


Undermining the Captain

by ThymeSprite



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Emotional Sex, F/M, Loki's Kids, POV Steve Rogers, Rescue Missions, Steve Rogers-centric, Virgin Steve Rogers, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-07 15:58:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 73,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4269369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThymeSprite/pseuds/ThymeSprite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of the many rescue missions the Avengers take on leads them to a young woman rumoured to have connections to Loki.<br/>Little do they know how deep that connection goes...and little does Steve know how important that girl wil become.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There is a sort of prequel to this story, [Midnight Encounter](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3593331)
> 
> Please enjoy.

“Scan the perimeter, make sure no one comes in or out.”, Steve ordered the SHIELD Agent next to him and the young man nodded, “Yes, Sir.”

Well, former SHIELD Agent, as the organisation was no more, but the handful of agents with them tonight had been hand-picked by Director Fury – former Director – himself. So Steve had to trust them for now, whether he liked it or not.

“Just think of it as a temporal solution.”, Natasha next to him murmured into his ear as she leaned closer, “You obviously don’t like it, but we can’t take on all of Hydra ourselves.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”, he replied and looked around in the seemingly deserted marina just outside New York. It was quiet, too quiet, but intelligence gathered by Natasha herself said there was a Hydra lab nearby. So they had to find it and wipe it off the face of God’s Earth. One base after the other, if need be.

“You can be grumpy all you want.”, Natasha declared, as she too looked around, watching the Agents Fury had assigned to them, “But that won’t bring a lady into your life. You know, Laura, from Tony’s accounting…”

“Do you really want to discuss this now?”, Steve interrupted her in disbelief, “We’re about to storm a Hydra base!”

“So?”, Natasha shrugged, “You don’t leave me a choice. I have to wedge talk like that in between missions. Or take the chance when you’re stuck in a car with me, so that you can’t run from the truth you want to avoid.”

With a sigh, he acknowledged that he was walking into a trap, eyes wide open, but nevertheless he asked: “Which truth might that be?”

Natasha looked flatly at him, then grinned smugly and stated: “You really need to get laid.”

Steve coughed, suddenly uncomfortable, and, honest to God, blushing.

“This… is not the time.”, he ground out, suddenly hoarse and he knew, he just knew without looking that Natasha was smirking, having the time of her life teasing him, “If you say so. But hey, your loss.”

Steve opened his mouth to argue, even if he did not want to, but then an Agent saved him from the effort by saying: “Perimeter secure. No one is in the area, but the readings from the abandoned mine show at least fourteen people. Five of them guards, the others personnel by the looks of it. One possibly a captive.”

“How so?”, Natasha enquired and the Agent replied without hesitation, “The body is restrained and severely hypothermic.”

Steve just stared at him for a moment in disbelief, then he barked an order: “Let’s go, move!”

Whoever was down there, he would not let them be in captivity any longer.

“You know, your compassion is going to get you killed one day.”, Natasha mumbled next to him, but Steve coldly countered, “Maybe. But if this line of work kills my compassion first, I’d be better off dead anyway.”

“You’re a saint.”, Natasha mused, just a tad derisively, before she turned to the Agents, “You know the drill: Take out armed guards, spare the rest when possible. Get out any hostages.”

They all knew the drill, but the statement from before made Steve wonder just how many of them really still cared. But for the moment, he pushed those thoughts away and instead readied his shield, braced himself for the upcoming battle and entered the darkness of the abandoned mine they had scouted out near the sea.

It was nearly pitch-black down there, but just a few yards into the tunnel, just beyond the depth any curious passerby would dare venture into the darkness, there was a well hidden control panel. Impossible to spot if you did not know what you were looking for, even harder to hack.

Natasha had it overridden in four seconds flat.

“Open sesame.”, she whispered, then glanced at Steve and as they both nodded their approval at each other, Natasha hit the door release and Steve barged in, shield at the ready and braced for whatever might by coming his way. They had not had blueprints to plan the operation – Natasha had asked where the fun in that would have been anyway – but the facility obviously was not big, however, filled to the brim with high-tech stuff he had no illusion he would ever even begin to understand. But neither did he have to, Steve was only concerned with finding the culprits and, most of all, getting the captive out alive and well.

After a short hallway, the room opened up into a cavern, possibly natural, but he did not care. He did care for the five army rifles trained on him, but a quick sidestep to the left, almost casually throwing his shield while he did so, brought him out of the line of fire long enough for Natasha to take down two guards with well aimed shots.

His shield knocked two more unconscious, first slamming into the one and slamming this one against the guard behind him, knocking both into the stone wall. To the last remaining guard Natasha said: “I’d think that over if I were you.”

Whether he had thought it over Steve did not know, but he had obviously not come to the only sane conclusion as he trained his rifle at Natasha. With one move Steve had wrenched it from his grasp and knocked the butt of the weapon into the Hydra agent’s face.

“Well, thinking obviously requires a brain.”, Natasha mused, but Steve did not pay attention, he was looking for the captive. The Agents had the rest of the personnel under control, Natasha was already in front of the main computer.

What were they doing here?, he wondered, seeing them all in lab coats. When he found the captive, he knew. And he was immediately sick.

Picking up his shield on the run, Steve dashed to the examination table at the far end of the room. On it, strapped down with heavy leather girdles was a young woman, her nakedness barely covered by two pieces of cloth as white as her skin. She was so thin…fragile even.

For a long moment, Steve feared that she might already be dead, that the hypothermia the scans had picked up had been merely a dead body cooling to the ambient temperature. But then he saw the wires attached to her and the monitoring of vital signs. They were there, but just barely.

Steve wanted to shout for a medic, but he knew they did not have one with them. So, doing the next best thing he could think of, he snapped at a scientist: “Give me your lab coat.”

When the man hesitated, he urged: “Now!”

“You heard the man!”, Natasha added her voice and practically wrenched the coat from the scientist. Hydra emblem on it or not, at least the piece of clothing would keep that poor girl warm.

“What have they done to you?”, Steve mumbled as he unfastened the restraints and removed the wires one by one, causing the monitor to flat line.

The girl moaned in pain, but to Steve it was a welcome sound, it meant that she was at least alive.

Slowly, her eyes opened, eyes dull and almost lifeless, sunken deep into her skull. No wonder, he thought he could see every single bone in her body, the girl was so thin. It took her eyes a long moment, but when they focused on him, she fought against him.

“It’s okay.”, he tried to reassure her, realising that it was far too easy to keep her small fists from hitting him, “It’s alright, we’re here to get you out.”

“No…”, she whimpered, but her resistance ebbed away, her body too weak to fight back.

“Shh, it’s okay.”, Steve repeated and wrapped her frail body into the lab coat, “We won’t hurt you, we’re not them.”

Gingerly, Steve then picked her up, cradling her body in his arms to carry her out, afraid he might break her. She had practically no weight at all.

Anger boiling in him, Steve glared at the nearest scientist and Natasha approached the man, cuffing him way tighter than would have been necessary, making him wince as she said: “You are under arrest. Whatever’s coming your way, you deserve worse.”

Steve whole-heartedly agreed and when Natasha gave the scientist a shove, telling the SHIELD Agents to take the sick bunch of them away, he nodded at her.

“Don’t thank me.”, she drawled and looked at the fragile bundle in his arms, “I wanted to do a lot worse than that. Poor girl.”

“Do you know what happened?”, he asked, but she shook her head, so he said, “It doesn’t matter now anyway. We have to get her out and fast, she needs medical attention.”

“I’ll inform Tony.”, Natasha said and Steve was about to object, as the girl clearly needed expert medical attention, but his partner interrupted him before he even had the chance to form his argument, “We can’t bring her into an E.R. and you know it. Bruce will have to do.”

Begrudgingly, he nodded, then moved out of the room. It was not that he did not trust Dr. Banner, but he just wanted to make sure the girl would live through the night and Bruce was not exactly trained or the Avengers Tower equipped for this kind of situation.

Quickly he left the facility, then slowly picked his way through the abandoned mine shaft until he was out in the open night again, then he made his way to the chopper that had brought them here. Thinking quickly, the Agent had moved the vehicle closer and Steve climbed aboard, the girl still in his arms, as safe as she could be for now. It would have to do. He sure hoped it would do.

Natasha climbed in after him, then signalled the pilot to take off. Efficiently as she always was, Natasha helped put the protective earmuffs onto the rescued girl and him, then buckled him in as they took off, flying straight for the Avengers Tower.

“What did they do to you?”, Steve wondered under his breath, but Natasha caught his words and replied, “I drew all the data they had on their hard drive. While Bruce takes care of her, I’ll see what this whole thing was about. Maybe we will get some answers.”

“Thank you.”, he said, still disgusted with what Hydra had done. So far everything about this secret organisation inside SHIELD had been bad, but this… was a whole new level of disgusting for him. The almost non-existent weight of the girl in his arms told him that they had probably starved her, but why? And why all those wires? Had they just monitored her or… did the punctures all over her arms and thighs mean that she had been drugged, experimented on? The mere thought sickened him, even though he did not even know the girl’s name.


	2. Chapter 2

It had not taken Dr. Banner long to examine the girl and when he was finished with it, his verdict was: “She’s malnourished, hypothermic, dehydrated and anaemic, but the preliminary tox-screen did not show any drugs apart from tranquilisers, possibly just to keep her from fighting. There’s no immediate danger to her life.”

Steve let out the breath he had not known he had held as he heard the words. Thinking about what Hydra had done to an innocent girl still gave him the creeps.

“But don’t get me wrong, she is in bad shape. I think we should move her out of the lab.”, Bruce suggested and Tony, having merely listened so far, stopped him, “Whoa, Doc, why? We have no idea who she is!”

“A victim, clearly?”, Steve growled and Tony shrugged, “Yeah, maybe, but we don’t know that for sure, do we? Or are you clairvoyant now, too?”

Steve glared at him for that, but Bruce held up his hands to stop them both and expanded his suggestion: “She is not in a critical condition and if she is innocent, which I am inclined to believe until I learn otherwise, then, considering you found her in that condition in a lab… I think she should not come to in another lab. It might freak her out.”

“Rightfully so.”, Steve said, “What about the living room?”

“It’s still my living room.”, Tony interjected, but before Steve could say something he was sure he might have regretted later on, Bruce again the calm voice of reason, said, “Sounds good. There is enough room not to crowd her but still be there to step in if something should come up. And Natasha can join us once she has decrypted the data from the lab.”

Stark clearly did not like it, but Steve, once more, did not care. He simply gathered the girl up again and carried her to the living room to lie her down on the couch. As he did, he commented: “You found clothing for her.”

“A tracksuit from Stark Industries, yes.”, Bruce replied and Tony chimed in, “See, I’m not a bad host.”

“Your parties certainly are… second to none.”, Steve mumbled, but studied the pale face of the girl as he spoke. They still did not know who she was. But at least some colour had returned to her cheeks, so they were still hollow, but not as white as a ghost anymore.

“Is there anything we can do?”, Steve asked and Bruce, his gaze on the girl as well, answered, “Not much for now. If we warmed her up too quickly, it might do more harm than good. So we just wait for her to get warm in those clothes, then feed her so as to get her back to her feet.”

The good doctor then sighed heavily and added: “And we will have a lot of explaining to do. If she doesn’t know why Hydra took her… she’ll freak, I figure.”

“Then let’s hope Red decrypts the data quickly. I wanna know who I’m harbouring here.”, Tony shrugged and Steve angrily bit his tongue, not willing to fight for now.

“Don’t worry about her, Tony.”, Bruce said unhappily, “The condition she’s in isn’t critical, but I bet she will sleep for at least a day after this. Possibly more.”

“She… was awake when we found her.”, Steve reported and Bruce stared at him, eyes wide, so he nodded, “She even fought me. For all she knew, I could have been Hydra, maybe she did not see me properly.”

“In her condition I’d be surprised if she didn’t jump at every shadow.”, Bruce mumbled, then looked at Steve again, “She really was awake?”

“And fighting.”, he confirmed, “Not for long, though, she was…alarmingly weak, but she tried to fight.”

“Amazing.”, Bruce said, “She must be strong.”

“Strong like freakishly strong?”, Tony asked and, as Steve glared at him, “Asgardian-like strong?”

“No.”, Bruce shook his head, “Not necessarily. Just…very stubborn.”

“See, she is only a stubborn girl, not a threat.”, Steve shot at Tony, who deadpanned, “Well, not necessarily maybe.”

“Give her the benefit of the doubt, Tony, will you?”, Bruce smiled, but was almost interrupted when Natasha rushed into the room, Clint right behind her, always her silent guardian.

“Guys!”, she said, her voice carrying urgency, as she showed them the small computer - a tablet, Steve remembered - in her hand, “You have to see this.”

With a last glance at the girl lying unconscious on the couch, Steve turned to face Natasha as she typed something into the tablet, then projecting the data onto the large screen on the wall.

“May I introduce you to Sophie Lucia Blake.”, Natasha began and Steve found himself looking at the photograph of the girl on the couch, comparing the two appearances.

“Oh my…”, Bruce muttered as he clearly came to the same conclusion, “Just how much weight has she lost in captivity?”

“About 30 pounds.”, Natasha said, “That puts her at just above 100 pounds now.”

No wonder Steve had thought she was weightless.

“So, we know her name, but who is she?”, Tony asked and Natasha said, “Just a kid from Brooklyn. Born October 13th in 1987, raised by a single mother, went to school like your regular kid, went to high school, college. She’s a nurse in a local hospital.”

“Then… why did Hydra take her?”, Steve wondered out loud and, as he looked at the girl again – young woman, he corrected himself- at Sophie, he added, “Why did they do that to her?”

“My guess?”, Natasha asked and gestured to the screen, “Because of that rumour.”

With one click, a report from a Hydra officer appeared on the screen. It contained barely any text, just one line.

“No way in hell.”, Tony muttered as he had read it, but Steve had to re-read it, then re-read it again until he was absolutely sure he had really just read the words ‘Subject suspected of being sired by Loki”.

“It appears that was their reason.”, Natasha nodded at their appalled group and Bruce fumbled for words, but then, after a glance at Sophie, asked, “Do they have any proof?”

“If they don’t, I guess that was what they were trying to find in that lab.”, Steve said and Natasha nodded at him, “I guess that was it, but no, Bruce, there is no proof. A lot of sick theories, but no proof.”

“Well, I didn’t think that golden reindeer would have just left a DNA sample to compare her blood to.”, Tony mused, but Bruce nodded, “It surely would explain her anaemia. They were trying to find something Asgardian in her blood.”

“Only that Loki is a Frostgiant.”, Natasha interjected and Tony snorted, “Didn’t look that tall to me.”

Natasha rolled his eyes at him, but then Bruce addressed them all, “What are we going to do now?”

“Wait for Fury’s orders.”, Natasha said, but Steve cut in, “He isn’t the Director anymore. I know he still is for you, but not officially.”

Natasha cocked her head, but her gaze told him she allowed his comment. For now, at least.

“I would like to have an eye on her.”, Bruce said, “Just in case her condition gets worse.”

Steve nodded, but Tony sternly said: “I’m not gonna have a spawn of Loki run wild in my house.”

For a moment, there was silence, then Steve asked, determinedly calm: “Then what are you going to do? Kick her out?”

“No, we can’t let her go.”, Tony shook his head, “There’s no telling what she’ll do!”

“What do you mean?”, Steve asked and pointed at Sophie, her frail form lying on the couch, “She is in no condition to do anything!”

“Still, I can’t just let her roam free. She might finish what her father started two years ago.”, Tony declared, but Steve countered, “Or she might just be an innocent nurse.”

“Who happens to have a rotten family tree?”, Tony scoffed, “Come on, Cap. We can’t know that, so we can’t risk letting her go.”

Disbelieving, Steve stared at him, then asked: “So you will keep her in the Tower, even against her will.”

“Yeah.”, Tony nodded, “Have to, Cap. Deep down, you know it.”

Steve shook his head, but as no one defended Sophie, he hissed: “Will you at least give her a room? Or just a cell, like Hydra did?”

“I’m not Hydra.”, Tony growled, “But we don’t know what the hell she is. Friend, foe, Loki’s little girl or just an innocent nurse? We. Don’t. Know. So we can’t risk it.”

Still shaking his head, still disbelieving, Steve looked at Bruce for support, but the good doctor merely looked at his patient, seemingly wishing he was far away at the moment. When he then directed his gaze at Natasha for support, she sighed and said: “Tony is right. We won’t treat her as a prisoner, but we cannot let her go until we know she is not the enemy.”

“Look at her!”, Steve demanded, “Look at her. Then tell me she was in on the whole thing, allowed that this was done to her. You can’t possibly believe that!”

“I don’t.”, Tony said, “She is a victim of Hydra, alright, but that doesn’t automatically mean she’s a friend of ours.”

Steve scoffed and then asked: “So you think if she’s as powerful as Loki, she would have been held captive long enough to make her this weak? You don’t think she would have fought them?”

“Maybe she did. And failed.”, Natasha suggested, clearly trying to calm him down, even though it did not work, “We can’t know. But I have to agree with Tony on that, we cannot let her go until we know that she is really just an innocent nurse.”

Steve was not happy with it and for a moment, it concerned him why. Rationally, he knew that they were right, but deep in his heart…

“And if she has done something for Loki or even Hydra, maybe she was forced to, just like your friend Bu…”, Natasha began, but Steve cut her off, “I might not like it, but I know you’re right, Tony.”

“Finally!”, he said, then addressed Natasha, “You don’t happen to have beaten some sense into our choirboy here?”

“No, he has some sense of his own.”, Natasha deadpanned and gave Steve a smile he barely returned.

She was right, it bothered him so much because of Bucky. Maybe. Whatever. All he knew was that he did not want to see that poor girl suffer… and he hoped he would not regret this.

“On another note, though…”, Natasha mused, “We should inform Thor that he has a niece.”

“Yeah, we kinda should.”, Tony agreed, “I’ll send a message. And while I’m on it, I’ll find Miss Blake here a room and make sure she only has restricted access. Lab’s off-limits.”

As soon as Tony had left the room, Bruce jested: “I don’t think she would willingly set foot into that chaos anyway.”

Steve smiled at the joke, even though he did not really appreciate it as his thoughts were still with Bucky…and Sophie. He looked at her and then frowned, thinking…

“She’s waking up.”, he mumbled and then a quiet sound made them all look to the couch where they could watch Sophie regaining consciousness. For a moment, her eyelids fluttered, just like before in that Hydra base, but when they shot open, Steve knew that she was suddenly wide awake.

She tensed, sat up and backed into the couch. Scared like an animal.

“Don’t be alarmed, we’re here to help you.”, Bruce calmly said, “Look around, you are no longer in that laboratory, you are not restrained. You’re okay.”

Her eyes darted around and her body slowly relaxed.

“I’m not alright.”, Sophie said, her voice hoarse and hollow, like emery paper. Then her eyes fixed on Steve, “You… were there.”

“Yes.”, he nodded, “I carried you out of there.”

“Why?”, Sophie demanded, taking him aback so he was unable to form a sensible reply. But Natasha stepped in: “I was also there. Do you know why you were taken?”

For a moment, Sophie hesitated, then glanced at the screen behind Natasha and sighed as she read the words there: “You already know why they took me. Why do you ask?”

“Because I hoped we could be friendly.”, Natasha smirked and Sophie eyed her up, clearly not sure what to expect.

“Did they find anything?”, Natasha added, but Sophie narrowed her eyes at her and said, “You have their reports. Look it up.”

She was good… but not exactly nice to them, Steve thought, but then reminded himself that she knew even less about them than they knew about her. Of course, she had to know who they were, but other than that, she could have no idea whether she could trust them.

What a splendid predicament.

“What would you say to a hot bowl of soup?”, Bruce suddenly asked and Steve could see how almost animalistic hunger showed in Sophie’s eyes. But then she shied away and Bruce smiled: “You might not think much of my word, but I promise I will not drug you or anything like that. But you have to eat and I think soup will be easiest to stomach.”

Slowly, both eager and reluctant, Sophie nodded and with a smile, Bruce took off, saying: “I’ll be right back.”

Learning a lesson from this, Steve took a bottle of water from the shelf nearby and opened it for Sophie, handing it to her with the words: “You must be thirsty.”

When she extended her arm to reach for the bottle, Steve saw it shaking, every sinew visible under the skin of her hand. She carefully took a gulp of water, then licked her dry lips: “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Natasha’s gaze on him and as they had so often during missions, he understood her without a word: She wanted him to break the news to Sophie that she would have to stay here because they had gotten a better start than Natasha and her. Alright, he would do it, but he did not like it very much.

“Do you know that Loki has a brother?”, he asked, buying time and Sophie nodded slowly, then almost croaked her throat was so dry, “Yes, Thor.”

“Exactly.”, Steve agreed, “We will inform him that he has a niece.”

There was something almost resembling a smile on her face as she mused with a dry chuckle: “Uncle Thor. Wow.”

Steve too grinned for a moment, but hated himself for having to destroy Sophie’s smile with the words he had to say, so he at least tried to soften them without lying to her: “I guess you’ll want to return to your life as quickly as possible, but unfortunately, it will take time for you to recover. You have lost a lot of weight, you’ll have to get your strength up before you can work again.”

“Yeah, because the patients I work with are such a rambunctious bunch. Oh, wait. They actually are, sometimes.”, Sophie dryly said and for a moment, they exchanged a smile, then Steve added, “That and we cannot let you go until we know…well…”

“Whether I’m associated with my alleged father.”, Sophie finished his sentence, then shrugged, “You’d be idiots if you did.”

That astonished him quite greatly, but he saw Natasha barely biting back a grin. And Steve had to admit, he was impressed.

Suddenly, Sophie’s eyes widened and she shot up, but her legs were too weak to carry her, so she stumbled, would have crumpled to the ground had Steve and Natasha not grabbed her.

“Easy.”, Steve said as he helped her back onto the couch, “You see, you will have to regain your strength.”

“Yeah…”, Sophie croaked as they let go of her, then told them, “But I also have to call my mother. Otherwise, she’ll probably kill me as soon as she finds me.”

Steve frowned, not sure whether she was truly serious or not, but Bruce spared him from answering as he returned with a bowl of soup: “It’s not the best soup in town, but it’s warm, not too hot.”

Carefully, he held the bowl out to her and Sophie accepted it, her hands trembling with the effort, but she slowly gulped it down in almost no time. It made Steve worry when she had been fed the last time…

“Thanks.”, Sophie said in between gulps, “But I really have to inform my mother.”

Steve hesitated, glanced at Bruce, then Natasha, but before they came to a conclusion, Sophie chuckled bitterly: “Wow. I can’t inform my Mom about my whereabouts? I’m just a prisoner once again?”

“No.”, Steve hurried to say, “You’re not.”

“Gosh, let the girl call her Mom.”, Clint chimed in from behind them, Steve had almost forgotten the archer was there, “Mommy is probably worried sick. How long’ve you been in there?”

“I…don’t really know.”, Sophie admitted as she gingerly placed the now empty bowl next to her on the sofa, “What day is it?”

Bruce hesitantly told her the date and for a moment, Sophie merely blinked silently, then she went pale, even paler than before.

“A month.”, she then whispered, “To the day.”

They were all stunned by that, actually stunned into silence until Clint piped up: “Sucks.”

“Yeah.”, Sophie nodded, then curled into a tight ball on the couch. Maybe it was the thought of Bucky or simply that his mother had raised him to be a gentleman, but Steve wanted to do something to make her feel better. Problem was, he just did not have the foggiest idea what to do. To his luck, Natasha had a suggestion at hand: “You don’t happen to have your cell phone on you?”

“Uhm…”, Steve mumbled, tapping all his pockets until he finally retrieved that blasted thing he did not really understand. Yeah, he could place a call and send a text, but that was about it.

“Here.”, he offered it to Sophie and she gave him a weary smile, then punched in a number and anxiously listened.

“Hey, Mo…”, she began, but then quickly brought almost an arm’s length between the phone and her ear before she interrupted her clearly angry mother, “Mom, I’m…let me explain. I couldn’t call because… Ever heard of Hydra?”

Silence followed that question, until Sophie wearily nodded, “Yeah, exactly that. No, I’m… a lot better now. I’m with the Avengers…No, Mom, I’m taken care of. It’s quite alright, really. No, there’s no need…no, Mom, no.”

Clint was sniggering quietly and even Steve could not fight a smile. It was…heart-warming to see an adult transformed into a child as soon as they had their mother on the phone. Too bad he would never be able to talk to his parents again…

“Yeah, Mom. I love you, too.”, Sophie ended the call and handed the phone back to him, “Thank you. She really was worried sick. A month…”

Steve had no idea what to say to that, so he decided to keep his mouth shut and silence filled the room, until…

“Where is she?”, a booming voice reached them through the corridors, making Sophie wince, but the rest of them recognised him immediately, “Where is my niece?”

“Thor, you can’t just…!”, Tony yelled after him, but the God of Thunder stormed into the living room, “…barge in. Never mind.”

Thor’s eyes fixed on Sophie, utter disbelief and pain in his gaze, then he rushed over to her. The irrational thought that he might attack her crossed Steve’s mind, so quick were Thor’s movements, but before he had been able to snap into action, Thor was already sitting beside his nice and hugged her to his broad chest. The poor girl almost vanished compared to her uncle.

“It is good to see at least one member of my family well.”, Thor mumbled, then released her from the tight hug, but kept his beefy hands on her frail shoulders, “I am Thor. Pleased to meet you, Sophie.”

“Uhm…likewise.”, was all she managed to say, but it made him smile nonetheless, before he turned to Tony, “Please, my friend, she is my niece, she is family, but a journey to Asgard would take a lot of strength she clearly does not have at the moment. Can you accommodate her here?”

“Yeah, uhm, we were kinda…planning on that. Sorta.”, Tony muttered evasively and Steve wanted to say something, but Sophie beat him to it, “I guess I’m a “guest”, willing or not, until it is proven that I am not associated with Hydra or Loki.”

Frowning, Thor turned to Tony, who took a defensive step backwards, opening his mouth to defend himself. For a moment there, Steve had been elated to find someone sharing his opinion, but then… seeing it from outside, he suddenly agreed with Tony’s assessment. It was not safe to assume she was a friend. So, despite the fact that he had not expected it, Steve justified the decision: “I know she is family to you and so far, there is no reason to believe that she was in any way associated with Hydra or Loki, but… we have to be sure.”

Thor’s glare then hit him, but it softened when Sophie said: “Think about it. Only an idiot would let me go without prodding a bit. Not that I like that much, but I can see why.”

Reluctantly, Thor then nodded, but his voice was grave when he spoke: “I can understand your reasoning, brothers, but be that as it may, she cannot be in association with my brother.”

“How so?”, Natasha was the first to ask the obvious question and Thor took a deep breath before he turned to Sophie, “It pains me to say this, but… Loki is dead.”

“What?”, Sophie asked, paling again and even though she had not confirmed that she really was Loki’s daughter, now everyone knew. Only a daughter who had known her father and had felt a connection to him could have reacted with such shock.

“Dead?”, she whispered, “How?”

“He died honourably, defending me and Jane, my beloved, from Dark Elves. Your father died a hero.”

“That doesn’t bring him back.”, she said bitterly and even wiped a tear from the corner of her eye before she squared her shoulders, “But thank you. At least… I won’t wait in vain anymore.”

Without a word, Thor pulled her into another hug and, to Steve’s astonishment, Sophie accepted it, returned it with arms so frail and shaking. Maybe there really was some kind of magic to family… or maybe she was simply exhausted. As if on cue – or maybe she had guessed his thoughts as she had so often – Natasha suggested: “Sophie, you must be exhausted. We have a room ready for you. Haven’t we, Tony?”

“Yeah, we have.”, he replied and told them where they would find it, but then said, “Thor, we’re gonna need a whole lot more info about that dying-a-hero-thing. Last time I checked, Loki was playing wannabe-king-of-the-world on top of my damn tower.”

Steve glared at him for that, especially as he saw Sophie clandestinely wipe away another tear. Thor clearly was not happy with the prospect of leaving her, so, talking before thinking, Steve offered: “I can take you to your room, if that would be alright with you.”

“Sure.”, Sophie nodded, “Thank you.”

“But I just met you. I never knew I had a niece.”, Thor protested to which said niece smiled, “Yeah, but it’s… all a bit much, I won’t be interesting company tonight, I’m falling asleep while talking here. Thanks, though. Uncle Thor.”

At this, he beamed happily at her, embraced her once again and then, as he got up, sternly addressed Steve, clapping his hand to Steve’s shoulder: “You take good care of her.”

“I will.”, he nodded and with a smile, Thor was off with Tony, leaving them in the living room. Alone. Apparently Natasha and Clint – and even Bruce - had snuck out unnoticed during the conversation.

“Alright, can you…walk?”, Steve asked of Sophie and she chuckled dryly, “Last time that did not work. So let’s try again, shall we?”

Slowly, Sophie got up. Her knees were still alarmingly wobbly, but she was able to stand.

“Wow. Remind me to thank Dr. Banner for that wonder-soup of his.”, Sophie smirked, already more humour in her voice and more colour in her cheeks now that she had finally eaten something.

“I will.”, Steve promised, but then offered, “Allow me to walk you to your room.”

“A proper gentleman.”, Sophie jested, “You don’t find them anymore.”

He merely shrugged, admittedly a bit self-conscious now, but she smiled cautiously and after a few steps had to lean onto his arm to make her way through the halls. But she was quite obviously strong and stubborn, because even if she made her way slowly and with a lot of effort, she made it.


	3. Chapter 3

“Here’s your room.”, Steve said as he opened the door for Sophie and led her inside, where he expected her to immediately collapse on the bed… but she merely stood next to it, silent, watching him.

“It… isn’t much.”, he said, fishing for something to break that awkward silence and Sophie chuckled, “It’s a step up from Hydra’s lab there. It’s not a cell.”

Steve grumbled because for him, that room was barely more than a cell. Barely. A fancy cell maybe, but on the bottom line, she was still a prisoner.

“So, if I am to stay here at all times, then…”, Sophie began, but Steve interrupted her, “You are not a prisoner.”

Wow, that felt like a lie, so he quickly continued to conceal it: “You can leave the room at any time and go to the kitchen, because you really have to eat to get your strength up. Mr. Stark’s own lab and the workshop are absolutely off-limits and for everything else you will need one of us with you.”

“So… y’all can babysit me.”, Sophie chuckled, “Lovely.”

Steve was already regretting his offer to take her to her room because he felt like a goon, like a prison guard of some sort.

“If you wish to leave the room or have any questions, Jarvis will be able to help you.”, he informed her and Sophie frowned, “Who’s Jarvis?”

“That would be me, Miss Blake.”, the hollow voice sounded in the small room and it made Sophie jump, “I am the artificial intelligence Mr. Stark has designed for many purposes in this house. Basically, I can inform you about the house, its inhabitants’ whereabouts and the weather, amongst other things. I apologise for surprising you like I did.”

“It’s okay…”, Sophie mumbled, then frowned again and addressed Jarvis, “So you’re… butler, guard dog and talking internet all in one?”

“You could say that, Miss Blake.”, Jarvis confirmed and she blinked, then shrugged, then frowned again and looked at the ceiling, “You’ll always know where I am and what I’m doing in here, am I right?”

She put it as if it was a question, but she knew it was true. Still, Steve told her: “There are no cameras in your room, rest assured.”

At this, she smirked and said: “So I can safely practice my Hello Kitty worshipping dance. Splendid.”

For a moment, Steve was at a loss, then he decided she must have been joking and told her: “If you need anything, just ask Jarvis and he can either tell you where to go or can contact one of us.”

“Alright.”, Sophie nodded and Steve turned to leave, but he found it hard to really turn his back on her. She was alone, frail, vulnerable… and he would leave her here all alone.

“Before you go…”, Sophie addressed him and as he turned around, he saw the hardness in her gaze, the hard steel below her exhaustion, “Tell me why.”

“What do you mean?”, he asked and Sophie watched him closely, then said, “You don’t strike me as an idiot. Yet… you seem to trust me. Or at least not fully distrust me like Miss Romanoff did and you are not as cautious as Dr. Banner was. But I don’t believe the Avengers to have an idiot in their midst. So why do you trust me?”

For a moment, Steve was surprised, a little offended, too, but then he said: “I refuse to condemn someone merely because of their heritage. Just rubs me the wrong way.”

For a long moment, Sophie was staring at him, then she gave him a cautious smile: “Thank you.”

“What for?”, he asked and she shrugged her small shoulders, then offered, “Just about everything you’ve done so far. You got me out of there and now you help me, even though you know who I am.”

“No, I don’t.”, Steve replied, making her frown, so he explained, “That’s exactly the point, I don’t know who you are. I know who your father was and maybe you have learned something from him, maybe you are of a mind with him… but I don’t know who you are. So I have no right to think you would be like your father was.”

Sophie wrapper her shaking arms around her figure and whispered: “He wasn’t always the man who had attacked New York. He was a father once.”

“It…is hard to imagine, I have to admit.”, Steve lowly said and Sophie smiled bitterly, “Really? For me it was hard to imagine that he would one day lead an attack on New York. I was born here, raised here… But then again, I never imagined he would just leave me one day. Yet he did. Guess you know him better than I did.”

It did not take a genius or a lady’s man to know that she was upset, even Steve saw it clear as day. But he had no idea what to do about it, just that he could not leave her here when she obviously should not be alone. Not after she had taken her father’s absence and the knowledge of his death so hard.

With a sigh, he stepped closer, still not knowing what on Earth he was doing, but Steve stopped next to her and said: “I did not really know him, just as a threat, an enemy. I am a soldier. There is a threat, I try to fight it. But in a fight, it is easy to forget that other soldiers, even tyrants, have a family, have someone who loves them. It is… just easier not to think about that.”

That came out wrong, gosh, she had every right to chase him off after that jumble of words, but to his surprise, Sophie smiled instead, albeit bitterly, and said: “At least you do think about that. I don’t think that, in the end, he even thought about his own family.”

“I really cannot tell.” Steve shrugged apologetically and for the first time, she looked up at him again and smiled warmly: “Sorry, I did not mean it that way. I am grateful, truly I am.”

He should say something, he figured, but all Steve came up with was silence until some spark in his mind made him say: “Take care so you can get your strength up again.”

“Wanna get rid of me?”, Sophie asked, shocking him because he had not wanted to say that, and when she saw his face, she laughed, “Sorry, it’s just… it was a joke. Thank you again, for… getting me out, helping me, being nice in general. I always thought superheroes were cool. Guess my favourite superhero has to be Captain America from now on.”

“Good night.”, Steve said and quickly turned around as he felt a blush rise on his face. Why? He had no idea. Seems he still was not good with accepting compliments, even if they were given as a joke. Well, how should he, women were a mystery to him…his only chance would be to ask Natasha and he would be damned if he did that.

So he simply opened the door, not caring that he looked as if he was fleeing – which he totally was, he knew that – but Sophie’s voice stopped him as she said: “Yeah, good night. Thank you again.”

He merely nodded, then left and closed the door behind him. Great, just great. If Tony had seen him in there, Steve knew exactly what the billionaire would have said. Something inappropriate about Steve being enchanted by a pretty face…only in more inappropriate words, surely.

He was surely not tricked into defending Sophie just because of her pretty face…even though she was pretty.

Shaking his head violently, he tried to get that thought out of his mind, he could not have that on his mind. It was utterly inappropriate. So, in order to clear his thick head, he decided to go to the gym, destroy a few punching bags, run a few rounds…or maybe a billion.

He was not enchanted by a pretty face, he swore to himself as he made his way to the gym and started running to warm up. No, he had defended her because she had also reminded him of Bucky. She was alone, she was seen as the enemy even though she was not…!

Steve stopped dead in his tracks and wondered how on Earth he could know that Sophie was not the enemy, was not associated with Hydra.

He grimaced and then nodded as he came to the conclusion that she would not have willingly participated in a show that had weakened her that much just in order to be able to infiltrate the Avengers. It was ridiculous.

Satisfied with his reasoning, he continued running, but then wondered if Sophie could be acting on her father’s behalf.

No, Loki was dead. But what if her father had given her orders before his death?

As he thought that, Steve had already finished enough rounds to get warm and he stopped in front of the punching bag, then started throwing punches at it, so violently that it ruptured after three blows. Wonderful.

With a sigh, he got another punching bag, put it in place and then paced his blows more carefully. Unfortunately, having to slow done gave him the opportunity to think on the side. What if Sophie had her very own agenda?

What if that had gotten her onto Hydra’s radar, so that she was associated neither with Hydra, nor her father, but still not a friend to them?

It did not make any sense. None of that made any sense!

When the next punching bag was also ruptured, Steve gave up. He had no idea what Sophie could be other than an innocent nurse who just happened to be a daughter of Loki. Simple as that. She had just been unfortunate.

And if that was true, then he was not enchanted by a pretty face, but had been the only reasonable one in their discussion before Sophie had woken up.

Yeah, he liked that point of view…but he was not really convinced. Because he knew that his trust in her was not really rational…it was because of Bucky, because he could not help his friend and she was in a similar situation and her he could help. That was a reasonable explanation…but he did not like it much.

With a sigh, Steve cleaned up after himself, then hurried to take a shower in his room, hoping all the while that those thoughts would disappear. But, when he was clean again, his head was still in turmoil and hurting from all the questions.

Steve knew he should just go to bed, sleep and after tomorrow’s morning run, during breakfast, the world would already look a bit brighter and less confusing. Only problem was, he also knew that he would not find sleep tonight, not in this state at any rate.

Humming to himself quietly, he thought about reading a book, finally watching a movie on his list…but decided against it as he was still too agitated. Going to the gym again would be stupid, so there were not so many possibilities left.

Without his conscious thought, he had left his room and was walking down the hallway, his destination not really decided on and yet set. He was walking to Sophie’s room, not to knock, just to check on her. He could not even explain to himself how that could make sense, but he followed that plan anyway, all the while trying to convince himself that he was not doing this because of a pretty face, not because of Bucky. He was just being careful, protective of their guest.

Yeah, that sounded right, he thought sarcastically and stopped a few doors before he had reached Sophie’s room. He was being stupid and he knew it. But he could not help himself.

A shriek made him wince and it was followed by the thump of a body falling to the floor and Steve was running at full speed before he knew it, barging into Sophie’s room without another thought.

One glance told him that she was not injured, but she was lying on the floor, her eyes wide and filled with fear as she was staring at the open window. And when Steve followed her gaze, his heart almost stopped.

Loki.

How? There, next to the window as if he had just climbed in, was Loki, standing there reaching for Sophie who was crawling backwards away from him, pressing herself into the wall as if she was willing herself to melt into it.

Loki was there, he was not dead.

How? No matter, Steve decided, when those cold eyes rounded on him and Loki snarled. Just then Steve realised that he was unarmed. Now that was just splendid.

Loki ignored him, looked at his daughter and said urgently: “Come with me.”

“No…”, Sophie whispered, shaking her head, but Loki insisted, “This is no place for you. Come with me.”

“No.”, she repeated, “You abandoned me in a search for power, to rule the world. I am better off where I am.”

“Starved half to death?”, Loki snarled, “Don’t be absurd.”

“Leave her alone.”, Steve barked, protectively placing himself between Sophie and Loki, but the Frostgiant sneered at him, “This is none of your concern.”

“It is.”, he replied, “I have sworn to protect her. Especially from you.”

He had done no such thing, but what the heck.

Loki, however, ignored him, cocked his head to look at Sophie and told her, his hand reaching for her: “Come with me.”

“No…”, she whimpered, but Steve thought he heard a hue of insecurity in her voice, until Sophie spoke with renewed steel and determination: “You left me, you left Mom to pursuit power. You let Hydra take me because you were not there.”

“I am here now.”, Loki said impatiently, but when she whimpered again, mumbling denial, he snarled, “Don’t fuss, foolish child.”

When he took a step towards his daughter, Steve stepped in…even though he had no idea whatsoever how he should fight a man with magic while he himself was unarmed. But he had to try, so he pushed Loki’s outstretched hand away from Sophie.

“That… was a mistake.”, Loki growled at him and Steve braced for the fight he knew would come. He had therefore anticipated Loki’s first blow and blocked it, but boy did that hurt. Yet he clenched his teeth and fought on, blocked blow after blow in such quick succession he barely saw his opponent. Magic made Loki faster than he should have possibly been and Steve felt the Frostgiant’s fists connect with his shoulders, his ribs. It really was painful.

When would the others arrive? He needed help, he knew it, and Jarvis should have alerted them by now. Or… 

“Jarvis?”, Steve panted, but Loki sneered, “That wretched thing cannot help you. So accept your fate, die, and let me get my daughter.”

“No.”, Steve said and this time, he actually landed a blow, square to Loki’s jaw. That should have stopped any man, but of course it did not stop Loki. Had that guy even flinched?

“Stop it!”, Sophie yelled behind him, but he paid no mind, or at least as little as he could, because he needed to defend her. No, Steve did not stop to think about a reason, he just held onto the belief that he had to help her.

“Stop, Father.”, she begged loudly, but of course Loki did no such thing, Steve felt that vividly as he thought one of his ribs had just been cracked.

“STOP!”, Sophie shrieked and even though he tried to resist, Steve had to pull back, had to protect his ears. But…why?

His ears were ringing…and Loki crashed into the far wall, actually leaving a dent in it. How?

Eyes wide in shock, Steve stared at Loki who was bleeding from his nose and ears, then he turned to the only possible cause of that… Sophie.

And when he saw her, Steve dropped to his knees, both from surprise and awe… and because something was draining all his strength.

His movement was sluggish, took more effort by far than it should have and his hands merely slumped down, no longer protecting his ears. They would have been needed in front of his eyes, but he was not able to lift his hands at all.

And Sophie… was glowing. No, the ball in her hand was… and it consisted of pure energy, raw and yet pristine, utterly beautiful.

With a hiss of equally pure anger, Sophie shot the ball of energy at Loki and as it connected with his chest, his body was pushed even further into the wall, making him break halfway through to the next room. Suddenly, the drain on Steve was lifted. He did not understand it, but he got to his feet, ready to fight again if Sophie should need him. But, truth be told, he was quite battered… and she seemed to do fine on her own anyway.

“Leave.”, Sophie sternly demanded of her father, “Leave and never come back. You left me years ago, you made a decision. Stick to it.”

“Sophie…”, Loki began and actually got up, even after he had taken such a beating from his daughter.

“No!”, she hissed at him, energy crackling around her hands and another ball forming. As it did and gradually grew, Steve felt this drain on his strength again and for a moment, he wondered whether she was really using his strength against her father. How was that even possible? He did not know and he could not think, his head hurt…

Sophie released the ball, throwing it at Loki and once again the drain on him was lifted, so when Steve was finally able to look and somewhat comprehend his surroundings, all he saw was Loki jumping out of the window, shifting into another form as he did so.

Exhausted, Sophie crumpled to the floor next to him and within an instant, Steve was at her side, holding her up so that she could lean against his shoulder.

“What happened?”, he asked and Sophie shook her head, “He was… just there, appeared from one moment to the next, I don’t know… what does it matter anyway?”

He wanted to reply to that, but before he was able to do so, Sophie had extricated herself from his supporting hold and was kneeling in front of him, her palms on his cheeks as she examined him, frantically asking: “Are you alright? Are you bleeding, feeling dizzy?”

“Somewhat.”, Steve said, a bit bashfully and gently pushed her hands away, “That can happen when you stumble into a fight.”

“Oh gosh…”, Sophie mumbled, “That too. Did he hurt you?”

“Not really…”, Steve said, even though a sarcastic voice in the back of his mind sneered at him for that lie, but then he frowned and asked, “What do you mean, that too?”

Sophie shyly bit her lip at that, sat back down and slowly said: “I happen to have more of my father than meets the eye. What you just saw, that was magic.”

“I figured as much.”, Steve replied, surprised at how calmly he was taking that so far, probably still in shock that, once waned, would drop him like a fly.

Sophie chuckled lightly, then she added: “He’s taught me a trick or too, but… I’ve never done anything like that. I just knew what I had to do, so I did it. But I’m afraid I… borrowed some of your strength.”

Steve’s brows shot up as she said that, but then he dryly muttered: “Figured that much as well.”

“I am sorry! I wasn’t strong enough to defend myself, let alone us both and…”, Sophie quickly apologised, but then fell silent before she suspiciously narrowed her eyes at him and observed, “You are taking this awfully lightly.”

“Still in shock.”, Steve offered as an explanation and Sophie gasped, then jumped to her feet. Or at least she tried to, but in the end Steve had to help her to her feet.

“Wow…”, she then huffed, “Here I am, thinking that I should get you to Dr. Banner after draining so much of your energy, and now you’re practically carrying me again.”

That made them both chuckle, until Sophie’s eyes widened in shock. She was far too quick for him…

“We have to find Thor!”, she urged and tried to pull him out of her room, but he asked, totally at a loss, “Wait, why?”

“My father is alive.”, Sophie whispered and slowly, that bit of information sank in. Loki was alive. So he had faked his death…and all of Asgard believed him dead, thought themselves safe from him.

“We have to find Thor.”, Steve nodded and together they left the room. Sophie had by no means regained any strength, but Steve was also slowed down in his battered state. He did however notice that some of the control panels were lit, actually all of them, so he asked again: “Jarvis, can you hear me?”

“Of course, Captain Rogers. What can I do for you?”, the AI asked and Sophie gasped, “Where were you? We would’ve needed you in my room.”

“I…”, Jarvis hesitated, then informed them, “I have reported the security breach to Mister Stark. He insists on a meeting in the living room.”

“I bloody thought he would.”, Sophie murmured, but Steve cut in, “Thor should join us. And maybe get Dr. Banner, too.”

“All Avengers will be present.”, Jarvis replied, “Let me get the elevator for you.”

“Thanks.”, Sophie said and then mumbled under her breath, “What a neat thing to have, a smart house.”

“It… has its perks.”, Steve allowed, even though if asked, he would have had to admit that Jarvis’ presence still made him a bit uncomfortable. He had thought that he would have gotten used to everything this confusing modern world could have thrown at him, but the truth was, he still found himself staring at objects he later learned to be perfectly normal, absolutely mundane everyday objects, although he had stood before them mesmerised like a little boy. The difference 70 odd years made…

The elevator was open for them, just as Jarvis had said, and together they made their way down to the living room. All the while Steve thought about words with which he could explain what had just happened, but when they entered the living room, he was cut off by Tony rounding on Sophie: “What the hell did you do to Jarvis in your room?”

“Leave her be.”, Steve placed himself between Sophie and someone threatening her, again, but this time Thor was at his side. Tony nonetheless stared at him and then did a double-take before he gasped: “And what the hell happened to you, Cap?”

“Got a little bruised.”, he muttered, but Thor’s voice was much louder and his words more urgent as he asked Sophie, “Are you alright? You look pale.”

“I don’t know how to tell you this…”, Sophie mumbled, but then firmly spoke, “Loki is alive.”

Thor sadly shook his head and gave her a bitter smile, but Sophie cut him off: “He was there. He tried to take me away, said that I was his daughter – all of a sudden – and that this wasn’t the place for me.”

“Sophie, he is dead.”, Thor equally firmly stated, but Steve shook his head and backed Sophie up, “Then it was a very good imposter, because he even had magic. Thor, it was Loki.”

“But…no. Loki?”, Thor muttered and Steve shrugged but then winced as it stung in his cracked rib, “Who do you think beat me up like that? Your niece?”

“Oi.”, Sophie complained, earning herself a chuckle from Steve, but that was soon smothered as Thor pulled him into an almost bone-crushing hug.

“Thank you, my friend.”, the God of Thunder said, “For saving my niece.”

Steve coughed because Thor was not making his bruises and cracked rib any better, but when he slowly pushed the friend away, he mumbled: “Actually, it was the other way round.”

“How so?”, Bruce enquired, but when Steve took a deep breath to explain, Natasha cut in, “Forget it, Cap. Bruce, you patch him up and you, Sophie, please explain.”

“I’m not…”, Steve said, but one stern look out of Natasha’s eyes silenced him.

“Good.”, she muttered, then ordered him, “Sit down, let Bruce check your bruises. And, Sophie, pray explain why Jarvis lost sight of your room.”

“He did?”, Steve asked, but when Natasha glared at him again, he quickly sat down, exchanging a grin with Bruce before the good doctor got to work.

“Yes, he did.”, Tony grumbled, “Totally lost the room, as if it had never been on the blueprints, never once in his system. Care to tell my how that happened, buddy?”

“Unfortunately, Mister Stark, I do not have a suitable explanation for this occurrence.”, Jarvis stated, but Sophie sighed, “Must’ve been Loki. His magic can do all sorts of things, maybe he kind of…jammed Jarvis’ frequencies?”

“Nobody just jams my AI’s frequency, baby.”, Tony muttered and Steve was, inexplicably enough, almost jumping to his feet at that remark, but Bruce held him down and Sophie had Thor to defend her… but she was very well able of defending herself as Steve realised when she shot back, “Well, then your AI’s been drinking on the job. Baby. Which explanation do you like better?”

Clint chuckled in the background and Steve saw Natasha smirk, as did Bruce, whilst Thor and Tony both stared at Sophie, bewildered. Then Bruce piped up: “Tony, I do think something could have jammed Jarvis’ frequencies. No offence, Jarvis.”

“None taken, Dr. Banner. It is possible and the most reasonable explanation.”, the AI replied politely, but Tony cried, “Nonsense! My house is reindeer-proof.”

“But apparently not magic proof. Or have you checked?”, Sophie asked, making Tony scramble for words. Steve was stunned into silence. Someone who managed to shut up Tony? Where had this girl been all his life?

He pushed the thought away as quickly as it had surfaced and was thankful when Bruce provided a diversion: “You’re bruised, but nothing serious. With your healing, you should be fine by tomorrow night. At the latest.”

Steve nodded gratefully and looked up, only to find Sophie and Tony staring at each other. Until Tony looked away in defeat and muttered: “Son of a bitch. Jamming Jarvis…bastard.”

“He’s still my father, you know.”, Sophie mumbled and as if it had been a cue for him, Thor asked, “How did he survive?”

“I honestly don’t know.”, Sophie replied and sat down, almost fell onto the sofa next to Steve as if her remaining strength had been drained magically, “I wish I knew. But I thought whatever the reason, you should know.”

“And I thank you for that, my niece.”, Thor replied, framing her pale face in his big, beefy hands and gently leaning his forehead against hers in a familiar gesture, intimate and protective, then he stepped back, but asked curiously, “How did you protect yourself and Steve?”

“You did what?”, Tony muttered, “You scrawny scare-crow…”

“Tony.”, Bruce stopped him, “Even if she was Loki’s tool, which I doubt more strongly than ever after she told us he is alive, that was mean.”

“But look at her!”, Tony stated, “No offense, little lady, but you couldn’t even take me on heavily drunk. You’re weakened, exhausted. How the heck should you have kicked Loki’s butt?”

Sophie sighed, glanced at Steve who, for lack of anything else he knew to say, gave her a reassuring nod, and then she replied: “He taught me magic. I used his own tricks against him.”

“Magic?”, Tony deadpanned in disbelief, but Thor was amazed, “You are a sorceress?”

“By no means.”, Sophie said, but Steve interjected, “Looked pretty much like sorcery to me.”

“I am not a sorceress, not in the Asgardian sense.”, Sophie denied, but smiled lightly, “I possess magic, but it is weak compared to my father’s. I was only able to give him pause because I had the element of surprise. And I guess… he must have reckoned you would come any minute now, so he left to try again another time.”

That was not true. Loki had known that Jarvis had been useless and Sophie knew that she had only had a fighting chance against her father because she had somehow tapped into Steve’s strength, they both knew that. Yet why he did not say it, but instead went with her lie, he did not know.

“Huh.”, Tony muttered, “Still sounds like hogwash, but whatever.”

He then wordlessly stalked off, and Bruce jested: “Someone’s sulking tonight. Let him lick his wounds, Sophie, it is nothing personal against you.”

“I’ve dealt with egotistical jerks before.”, she smirked, “I guess I can handle that rip-off Tony is.”

Thor smiled at her, took her hand in his in a warm and careful gesture, but then bitterly told her: “I have to go back to Asgard and report your finding. We have to decide how to deal with this.”

“Go.”, Sophie nodded, “I’ll be fine here.”

Thor glanced at the rest of them and Sophie laughed warmly: “Go, chop chop, Uncle Thor.”

At this he laughed, then he was off, presumably to the roof to call out to Heimdall, Steve thought.

“Will you really be alright?”, Bruce asked of Sophie and she nodded, “Yeah, I’m safe here, I guess. But please do tell Tony to shield Jarvis a bit better.”

“Don’t worry, he’s already recalibrating everything.”, Clint said, clapped her shoulder as he went past her and then left the room with Natasha in tow.

“And… also tell him that I might have caused some damage to the room while defending us against my father…”, Sophie sheepishly added, making Bruce chuckle, “How much is “some”, exactly?”

“Oh, nothing, really…”, she said, but then mumbled lowly, “Just a destroyed wall, is all.”

After another chuckle, Bruce yawned and then glanced at the clock, muttering: “Oh my. I’ll go to bed.”

“Night.”, Sophie wished him and when they were once again alone, she turned to Steve, “I guess you’ll want to go to sleep, too, huh?”

“Do you think you can sleep now?”, he asked a counter-question and she shrugged, “Probably not. But that should not keep you awake.”

“Don’t worry.”, Steve told her, “I couldn’t sleep either. That was the only reason why I was out in the hall before.”

As soon as he had said it, Steve regretted it. He did not like the prospect of having to explain why he had been in front of her door, exactly, so he quickly added: “So I don’t mind staying up a bit. There are a few things on my list, movies to watch. That could pass the time.”

Sophie grinned thankfully, then asked him: “Okay, thanks, but two questions. One, have you seen Star Wars yet?”

When Steve shook his head no, Sophie clapped her hands, “Alright, then Star Wars it is. And second, would you mind if we eat something during the movie? I’m starving.”

At this he chuckled, but then shook his head once again: “Just tell me what you would like to eat and we’ll arrange something.”

“Great.”, Sophie smiled and together they made their way to the kitchen.

A movie… Steve had no idea what he was doing, but strangely, he enjoyed it. So, when they entered the kitchen he glanced at Sophie and offered: “Feel free to look around for something you’d like. But I guess it’d be good to get you something with a lot of calories, just to get your weight and your strength up again.”

“Trying to fatten me?”, Sophie asked and when he stopped, bewildered, she giggled lightly, “Just messin’ with ya. Calories sound good. Let’s find some.”

Saying that, she began rummaging through the cupboard, but Steve opened the fridge and suggested: “What about ham and eggs or some…?”

“Pop tarts!”, Sophie squealed happily, “You’ve got pop tarts, all the best flavours!”

She jumped up and down like a little girl, then frowned as she looked into the cupboard: “You’ve got a helluva lot of pop tarts…”

Steve laughed and then shrugged with a grin: “You really are Thor’s niece. He loves them about as much as you do, apparently.”

“Are you kidding?”, Sophie asked, but when he shook his head, she too laughed and snatched two boxes out of the cupboard, “Those are the best things in the world. Apart from cuddling kittens and eating fresh pancakes, of course.”

“Of course.”, Steve mumbled, watching her as she ripped open the boxes and then searched for a plate. Without a word, he handed one to her she accepted it with a smile. He could not help but watch her as she popped the sweets into the microwave, she was…beautiful. And frail, hurt, probably just masking the fear that she had to feel with her giddiness…and she was probably not even an ally, let alone a… what exactly? He had no idea, but he wanted her to be an ally, at least an ally…

“…the milk?”, Sophie’s voice yanked him out of his thoughts and he asked, “Beg your pardon, ma’am?”

“Don’t you “ma’am” me.”, Sophie snorted in amusement, “But move over, please, so I can get the milk. You know, for some cocoa?”

“Sure, yeah.”, Steve mumbled, already feeling a blush creep to his cheeks. Well, was that not just perfect?

“You want some, too?”, Sophie asked, “Just point me to the cocoa, okay?”

He did not even bother with words, merely got the box from another cupboard and then watched Sophie heating the milk, pouring them both cocoa and getting the pop tarts. Then they made their way to the living room where Sophie mumbled: “So how…? Umm, Jarvis, you don’t happen to be able to switch on the telly and play Star Wars for us?”

“Which part would you like to watch, Miss Blake?”, the AI enquired, “The movie first released or the one coming first in the storyline? Either one should be fine, I presume, as Captain Rogers has not seen any of them.”

How did Jarvis know that?

“Huh… let’s play it old-school.”, Sophie said, already getting comfortable on the couch as Jarvis replied, “Very well, Miss Blake.”

“You know, I could really get used to having you around.”, Sophie mumbled at the AI with a wry grin, “You’re polite, useful and you don’t talk back. But you do have some hidden sarcasm and sass. I do like you.”

“Thank you.“, Jarvis replied, “Enjoy the movie.”

Steve was at a loss; he had never seen anyone talk to Jarvis like that, apart from Tony. And Sophie had only been here a few hours… she really was a mystery.

“Don’t let your cocoa run cold.”, Sophie frowned at him, “Or the pop tarts for that matter. And you shouldn’t miss the movie either, it’s great fun.”

“Yeah.”, Steve mumbled and he sat down, but he could not really focus. Why were tonight’s occurrences bothering him so much and her so little? It did not make any sense to him.

“Sophie?”, he then asked and she looked at him, blinking. Looking into those green eyes, now that they were full of life and not as dull anymore, made him almost lose his train of thought. Damn.

He looked away, noticing that Jarvis had paused the movie before it had even begun, then he asked: “How come that does not bother you? None of this?”

“The magic, that my father was dead to me for an hour and then appeared in my room to kinda kidnap me, a room in the Avengers Tower I only occupied because Hydra had taken me? Or the fact that I’m sitting here with Captain America in his civvies and sipping cocoa?”

“The…the first bit.”, he stammered and Sophie grinned, but her smile faded and the gleam in her eyes was dulled again. She averted her gaze and then almost tonelessly muttered: “If I allow all that to get to me now, I’ll lose it, go ballistic. I have to keep my act together until I’ve slept at least a week and gotten some food into my system. Then, in the light of day when I’ve at least regained some of my strength, when I can crawl away somewhere and still feel somewhat safe, then I’ll allow myself to lose it, to simply cry. But right now, I can’t. If I allow myself that comfort now, I won’t ever get up again. But that is the only thing that really matters, not how often you fall, but that you get up again every time.”

Steve could do nothing but stare at her, mouth hanging open and eyes wide. She was terrified out of her wits, but still she remained calm, forced herself to stay focused. She had allowed him to peek behind her impenetrable armour of self-control and that was the only reason why he knew she truly felt vulnerable. Had she not, he had still been utterly convinced that she did not care a pap for the night’s strangeness. She was probably the more hardened warrior between the two of them, even if she did not look the part.

“Let’s watch the movie.”, he then suggested and when she smiled shakily, he realised that the movie, once again, was a diversion for her, something to keep her from losing it, as she had called it. So Steve sat next to her, watching in silence and merely drinking his cocoa, nibbling at a pop tart or two – alright, in the end he had eaten four, but so what? – and he found himself enjoying the movie and the company. Sophie pointed out good scenes to him, he heard her heartfelt giggle or exasperated sigh at the story and he found himself agreeing with her. Overall, he liked the movie but it seemed farfetched for a man of his time. That did not make it any less good, though.

Somewhere during the sizzling of, what were they called, lasers probably, he realised that Sophie had been awfully quiet for some time. A glance told him why and he smiled. She was fast asleep, her hand still limply holding half a pop tart, her head leaned back against the back of the couch, mere inches from his shoulder, and her breathing was totally even. She still looked frail and haggard, but at peace.

“Jarvis?”, Steve quietly asked, but before he could continue, the AI stopped the movie and informed him, “There is another guest room ready for Miss Blake.”

“Yeah…”, Steve mumbled, debating with himself whether he should follow the idea he had just had. Maybe he should not, it was not proper, but…

“I will take her with me.”, he informed Jarvis, even though the AI would know where Sophie was at any time, “She is afraid, Jarvis, I don’t want her to be alone.”

“A sensible reasoning and sensitive insight.”, the AI said and for a moment, Steve frowned, unsure whether Jarvis was agreeing with him or giving him attitude. He did not really know and, frankly, neither did he care.

Carefully, he picked Sophie up and carried her in his arms, once again, but this time to his room. He felt like a thief sneaking away as he carried her, but he still thought it would be best for her not to wake alone…she had been all alone when Loki had entered her room and even though she was able to defend herself, Steve was not comfortable with taking a risk. He refused to think about it too hard, however, and simply carried her to his room, lay her on the bed and tucked her in. His couch was comfortable enough for a few hours…

“Good night.”, he whispered, stroked a lock of dark brown hair from her forehead and then left her alone in his bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar.

Within a few minutes, he was ready for bed, or rather the couch, and lay down. But it took sleep a long time to claim him, as just too much was going through his mind, some of it concerning Loki, more concerning Bucky who was still missing, but most of it concerning Sophie… and he did not know why.


	4. Chapter 4

When morning came, Steve was instantly awake, but it took him a moment to figure out why he was laying on his couch…and when he did remember, the first thing he felt was embarrassment.

“Oh boy…”, he mumbled to himself. What if Sophie thought ill of him for that? No use crying over spilt milk, he thought, but still, Steve was worried. A man taking a young lady to his room, how bad did that look?

After a moment’s pause in which he had sat up, he wondered if that would still be frowned upon in this modern era, but he guessed that it would. Or at least should.

“Oh boy.”, he repeated, but then rose in determination and decided he would just follow his routine, with little changes of course as he was not in his bedroom, where he usually started his day, but he could adapt. He hoped.

At first, though, he had to get properly dressed and all his clothes were…in the bedroom.

With a sigh, Steve pried the door open a crack and spied inside. Then he chuckled involuntarily. Sophie was still fast asleep, actually out cold, and she had barely moved during the night. She had to be exhausted. So Steve figured she would not wake, but still he tried to be quiet as he snuck out some clothes, enough to go for his morning run and then still have a change of clothes, after all there were showers in the gym, he would use one of those so as not to disturb Sophie’s well-deserved sleep.

Another glance at her told him she really needed her rest as she was still pale, but breathing softly and calmly. Good to know she got at least some decent sleep.

He hurried out, shaking his head, and was almost out the door into the hallway when a thought struck him. How would she feel if she woke in an unknown room? Without any idea how she got there, without explanation why she was there, in his room? What horrid things would she think of him?

So Steve decided to leave her a note. A notepad and pen were quickly found, but words… not so much. He did not even know how to begin the note, “Dear Sophie” sounded a bit too cordial, too familiar, but he just could not think of a more formal greeting.

Mulling it over in his head, he finally settled for “Good morning”, but then wondered how to proceed. Until he just threw caution to the wind and wrote whatever he first thought of:

“Good morning Sophie, please don’t be alarmed by the unfamiliar room. You fell asleep during the movie last night, so I tucked you in, but I didn’t want to leave you alone, not after the rude awakening you’d had. Feel free to stay as long as you like or come down to eat something.”

He stopped himself then before he tumbled into babbling, signed the note with his name and then left it on the nightstand for Sophie to find when she woke. Judging from her motionlessly sleeping form, that would not be for a couple of hours, Steve thought with a grin, then he went out for a run, he simply had to get that energy and agitation out of his system. There were still hidden Hydra cells scattered throughout the States, probably the whole world. He still had no idea where Bucky could be, did not know whether Hydra had recaptured him, he did not know why Sophie had been taken. Sure, because of the connection to her father, but why exactly?

With a frustrated groan, Steve sped up, anxious to vent some of the frustration and agitation both, but succeeding in neither. Which only got him more frustrated, a feeling he hated. Because he felt weak and helpless, that was why, he could not help Bucky, so he had to help Sophie, had to try…at least as much as the other team members and Sophie herself would let him.

He wished his head was not so full of thoughts, every one more confusing than the one before, but it was no use, they jumbled around in his mind and not even an excessive run relinquished them.

“On your left!”, a familiar voice called and Steve had never been happier about the diversion, so he laughed, “Morn’ Sam.”

“Whoa, what the hell happened to you?”, his friend asked, a little out of breath, yet with genuine concern in his face, but Steve waved it off, “Nothing much. Had a bit of a run-in with Hydra.”

That was not even a lie…technically. But he could not just tell Sam that Loki was alive. Or could he?

“That all?”, Sam drawled, giving him a crooked grin that told Steve his friend knew exactly that there was more to it than that.

“Am I an open book to you?”, he grumbled and Sam smirked, “Mostly, buddy. So, what up?”

Steve took a deep breath as there was so much to explain, but then he simply sighed: “I’m not sure.”

“So… it’s a girl.”, Sam guessed and Steve winced involuntarily, thereby causing Sam to make a double-take, “You’ve got to be kiddin’ me. There really is a girl?”

“Well, she’s a girl alright.”, Steve began, but when Sam grinned even more widely, he cut in, “But she’s not, she…it’s not what you think!”

“Sure, buddy.”, Sam teased him and Steve stared at him, then sharply said, “She was a hostage of Hydra. We got her out yesterday.”

“Oh gosh.”, Sam’s elation was vanished and Steve felt almost bad, “What happened?”

“I’m not exactly sure.”, Steve muttered and the two of them began to walk through Central Park, still quiet in the early morning, “She was taken hostage because of a rumour Hydra tried to find out more about. She…Sam, they almost starved her. She’s nothing but skin and bones, I carried her outta there and… it’s sick.”

“Yeah it is.”, Sam nodded gravely, “How’s she holding up?”

When Steve glanced at him, Sam snorted: “C’mon, Fury won’t just send her off with a pat on the back and good wishes. He’ll wanna know if she’s an ally, an innocent bystander or a liability. Or worse, a spy or something.”

Steve nodded confirmation and then said: “She was pretty roughed up, but she’s…surprisingly well. She’s afraid, of course, she has to regain her strength, but…she took that blow better than I thought anyone would.”

“Sounds like a good gal.”, Sam commented and Steve inclined his head, agreeing. From what he knew about Sophie, she was a fine woman… but he only knew next to nothing, really.

“So, if she’s holding up pretty well, then why are you looking as if you’d just eaten something sour?”, Sam asked, patting Steve’s shoulder and he grinned, but then shrugged, “Not sure. Sorry, I know those words are getting old fast.”

Sam gave him a smile and then said: “You’ll find him.”

That statement utterly surprised Steve and apparently, that was obvious in his face, because Sam laughed for a moment, then explained: “Your friend Bucky. He’s gotta be out there somewhere, probably just figuring out what the hell he’s supposed to do. Give it some time.”

“It’s been weeks…”, Steve mumbled and Sam sighed, but then winked at him, “Maybe not everyone takes such a blow as easily as that girl you got out.”

When Steve shook his head, first in incomprehension, then in astonishment, Sam grinned: “Think about it.”

“Yeah.”, Steve mumbled, almost numb and silently thinking, but when Sam turned away and waved goodbye, he called: “Her name’s Sophie.”

“Pretty name.”, Sam called back, “Has gotta belong to a pretty girl.”

With that he winked once more and Steve glared at him for that joke. It had been a joke, on him, but he was not mad. He was glad that he had a friend like Sam, glad that he too had moved to New York. Even though his words had not given Steve much more to go on, at least he felt better. That was something.

He returned to the Tower, took a shower and then got himself breakfast, not in the least surprised that no one was about. Natasha would surely be up by now, but neither she nor Clint were in sight.

“Good morning, captain Rogers.”, the AI greeted him and he replied, “Morning, Jarvis.”

He still felt a little nervous alone with the AI. That position was stupid, he knew that, but still.

So instead of asking Jarvis to turn on the radio, Steve prepared his breakfast in silence, some eggs and bacon with toast and a cup of coffee. When he saw that the coffee maker already held a good supply of freshly brewed black gold, probably courtesy of Natasha, Steve grinned, then helped himself. Just when he started his breakfast, Bruce walked in, dishevelled and tired, in fresh clothes, but still he looked as if he had not slept a minute.

“Morning.”, he wished and Bruce winced, then blinked, rubbed his eyes and stated, “I need caffeine.”

“Coffee is ready.”, Steve smiled, but Bruce, as was his habit, went for tea instead. He let the good doctor get some tea into his system, only then did Steve enquire: “What kept you awake?”

Bruce blinked at him in surprise, so he shrugged: “It does not take a genius to see you haven’t been sleeping well.”

For this he earned a chuckle, but then Brue sadly replied: “It’s Sophie. Her medical records.”

For a moment, Steve’s blood felt like ice. It was ridiculous and the explanation that he wanted to help her because he could not help Bucky did not satisfy him, but he could not deny that he had felt a pang of fear before he managed to ask: “Is something wrong with her?”

“Apart from having lost all that weight?”, Bruce asked, disgusted, “Apart from having a needle jabbed into her arm so many times, having so many blood samples taken that she’s in anaemia?”

“Yeah.”, Steve nodded gravely, “Apart from that.”

“No.”, Bruce shook his head, “But isn’t that enough? Makes me sick to think about it.”

Steve merely nodded, but did not say anything, for lack of an idea of what to say. But even if he did, Bruce would probably not have heard him, that he realised when he saw the good doctor gazing off into the wall, unseeing, ignoring his tea.

“I wonder…”, Bruce then murmured softly, thinking, “I wonder what they needed all those blood samples for.”

“I might have an answer to that.”, Natasha said as she entered the room, beautiful as ever, Steve had to admit, but he did so in silence and instead asked another question as he got up to get her a cup of coffee, “And what is that?”

“They ran tests.”, Natasha stated and accepted the cup of coffee with a minute smile, “Every test imaginable, your standard lab procedures of course, but also paternity, gene mapping, they mixed her blood with just about every substance known to affect human blood.”

“God, why?”, Bruce asked, putting his tea down in disgust, mirroring Steve’s expression, but Natasha merely shrugged, “What do you think? They wanted to know is she is human.”

“And… is she?”, Steve found himself asking, but he felt queasy as he did. He had no right to intrude into Sophie’s personal matters like that.

“From what I’m seeing, she is pretty much human.”, Natasha said and Bruce blinked, but calmly asked, “Pretty much human? But not entirely.”

“Is…”, Steve began, stopped as he felt a bit foolish, but then went through with it anyway, “Isn’t it an intrusion into Sophie’s personal business to poke in her medical records like that?”

Natasha rolled her eyes, but smiled at him as she plucked that last bit of bacon from his plate: “You are just too nice for your own good. We need to know all about her, just to determine if she’s friend or foe. And yes, she is not entirely human. Guess what did not affect her blood. Or her.”

Steve was at a loss, but Bruce leaned back and sighed: “Cold.”

“A hundred points to the man in purple.”, Natasha stated, “Yes, she was not affected by cold. They froze her blood samples, they kept her at too low temperatures at all times. Nothing happened.”

“Nothing?”, Steve asked, anger bubbling up, “She was cold as ice when we got her out. Bruce diagnosed her with hypothermia. How is that nothing?”

“Because.”, Natasha began sternly, “They kept her in a freezer for a few days straight. A normal human being would be dead. She was just seriously hypothermic, but far from dead.”

She had not looked that far from death that night, Steve thought, but did not say anything. He did not know what to say.

“So I take it you have deciphered Hydra’s lab data?”, Bruce enquired and Natasha nodded, taking a sip of coffee, “Already sent it to you. Wanna have a look, too, Captain?”

“Huh?”, Steve asked and frowned, unsure how to answer that. He would like to know more, but…

“No.”, he then said, not like that, but the reason he gave was a different one, “I probably wouldn’t understand a single word anyway.”

“You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.”, Bruce said, finished his tea and got up to leave, but stopped, making Steve turn to the door as he said, “Good morning. How do you feel?”

“Better.”, Sophie told them, almost drowning in the sweat suit of Stark Industries, “I’ve had a nice night’s sleep after Daddy’s visit, a nice awakening…now I’m just looking for some breakfast.”

Steve was on his feet before he had thought about it: “Do you take your pancakes with maple syrup?”

“Uhm…yeah.”, Sophie nodded, “I’m usually too lazy to make them, though.”

“Don’t worry. You need the calories.”, Steve said and without further explanation set to work.

“Sit down, I’ll get you coffee. Or would you prefer tea?”, Bruce asked her and Sophie smiled, insecure, but slowly trusting, a sight that reassured Steve…until Natasha moved into his line of sight, blocking his view, cold scrutiny in her eyes.

“What is it?”, he whispered annoyed and prepared the pancakes, Natasha nonchalantly moving next to him, handing him ingredients, but all the while scrutinising him.

“What’s wrong?”, Steve asked because that gaze put him on edge. He wished he had not asked when he got his answer, given coldly, calmly by Natasha: “What is wrong with you?”

“I’m…just trying to feed the girl.”, he replied evasively and in a whisper, “You said she lost a lot of weight, so she has to eat.”

“Yes.”, Natasha allowed, “But how come you know she eats pancakes?”

Steve rolled his eyes and said, feeling as if he was confessing something: “We talked last night, alright? She told me she likes pancakes and pop tarts. She is so Thor’s niece.”

His lame attempt to amuse her had failed, as expected and feared, for Natasha did not crack a smile.

“Steve…”, she then began, but he cut her off ,”No, save it. I will not mistrust her just because she has Loki for a father. She helped me last night.”

“Before or after you got her into your bed?”

That question felt like a dagger to the heart and for a moment, Steve was not able to react. Then he shook his head to clear his thoughts before he calmly asked a counter-question: “Are you accusing me of something?”

“No, I…”, Natasha said, but he interrupted, “Then don’t throw accusations around. What do you really want to know?”

“I want you to take care.”, Natasha whispered and grabbed his arm, her gaze fixed on his, “If you’re wrong and she is not an innocent nurse, you’ll be hurt.”

“That’s my problem.”, Steve stubbornly said and turned to the pancakes, ending the conversation with a court, “Would you hand me an apple, please?”

Natasha sighed, accepting his stubbornness for now, or so he thought until she said sadly: “Damn it, Steve, there are people who care about you. I happen to be among them. And that means I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I can take care of myself, thank you.”, he stated and she sighed again, murmuring, “Let’s hope you’re right.”

With that, she turned away and left, but Steve stood there, positively fuming even though he knew he had no reason to do so. Maybe Natasha was just trying to protect him. But from what? And anyways, he did not need protection, not any longer, those times had ended with the serum back in the forties.

He appreciated having a friend like her, but… with an exasperated sigh he thought that he would have to apologise, even though he did not really know what for, but he felt like he had to.

A glance back to the table told him that Bruce was chatting with Sophie, it was an almost amicable conversation and apart from her haggard face, nothing seemed to be wrong. She was even smiling as she talked to the doctor and cradled the mug of steaming coffee in her hands that were completely covered by the sweater’s sleeves. She looked like a girl wearing her father’s clothes. Or her boyfriend’s.

Steve pushed that thought away as it seemed inappropriate, then scooped up the last remains of the pancake batter and as soon as he had stacked that last one onto the pile of pancakes, he almost drowned the stack in maple syrup, grinning to himself, then put the prepared apple slices next to the pancakes, a dash of cinnamon and it was all done. Seeing that plate, he got hungry again, but he took a fork out and put the plate in front of Sophie saying: “Hope you like them.”

“Whoa…!”, she gasped and giggled, “How am I supposed to eat all that?”

“He’s right, Sophie, you do need the calories.”, Bruce chimed in, but then glanced at Steve, “Although that might be a bit much to stomach.”

“Don’t worry. As soon as Tony gets here, the pancakes will be all gone. So better hurry up.”, he joked and with a smile, she dug in. Steve helped himself to another cup of coffee and normally, he would read the newspaper, but today it was much more interesting to look at Sophie.

Yeah, it sounded wrong in his head too, but he could not help it.

“Wow. Who taught you to cook?”, Sophie asked after a bite and Steve cleared his throat, “My Mom.”

At that, she snorted in amusement, then explained: “Yeah, my Mom can barely cook spaghetti. I love her to bits, but she’s a lousy cook.”

She ate almost the entire stack of pancakes, leaving Bruce speechless, and when she had washed them down with some coffee, she looked at Steve: “Those are seriously good. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”, he nodded, “You need the energy.”

“That way, you’ll fatten me.”, she smirked.

“We let him cook more than once a week, we’re all gonna get fat.”, a voice from behind them grumbled and an almost sleep-walking Tony entered the kitchen; he was not awake enough to find himself coffee, but enough to wisecrack some jokes, typically Tony, “And we can’t have that, can we now? I do need to look good.”

“And you do, Tony.”, Bruce said and when Sophie raised an eyebrow at the compliment Tony had barely heard, the doctor whispered to her, “He needs that, gets cranky otherwise.”

“I’m always pretty and always alert.”, Tony grumbled as he rummaged through the cupboard, “I heard that.”

Bruce shrugged, but smiled and clandestinely, Sophie returned that smile. It was good to see her relaxed, Steve thought, but when Tony knocked over the fruit bowl, he got up with an exasperated sigh: “Please don’t wreck your own kitchen. What do you want for breakfast?”

“Bacon, eggs, just this side of runny, toast. Oh, and those pancakes for starters.”, Tony stated and with a sigh Steve got to work. Until the tone of Sophie’s voice made him stop dead in his tracks.

“Those pancakes? Sure, go ahead, I couldn’t eat another bite.”

It was not the words she had said, not exactly the tone because she had been friendly, had sounded just like a friend offering her leftovers, but still…something in her voice had been sharp as a blade, cold as ice. Steve had felt it and Tony had definitely felt it, that much he knew when he turned around and saw the self-acclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist gawk at a smiling Sophie.

She even pushed the plate over to him, but Tony had to forcefully snap out of it with a shake of his head, then, to Steve’s tremendous astonishment, Tony got up, wordlessly took another fork and returned to the table with a fresh cup of coffee for Sophie.

“There you go. Thanks for the pancakes.”, Tony said, then sat down. Now Steve was the one to gawk. What had just happened? He had no idea.

“Thank you for the coffee.”, Sophie said with a friendly smile, “And Steve made the pancakes, so thank him.”

With his mouth full of the last bits of pancakes, Tony mumbled an almost unintelligible: “Thanks, buddy.”

Steve stood there, in the middle of the kitchen, utterly transfixed. What on Earth had just happened? He still had no idea and that Bruce was chuckling did not help him, so he decided to make breakfast. That he could manage, that he could understand, so he settled for it.

Unfortunately, when Tony’s breakfast was done, Steve had not come any closer to the answer to the mind-boggling question of what had just happened. He still could not understand it. How on Earth had Sophie gotten Tony to thank him for breakfast?

Yeah, sure, he could have complained to Tony every time, but instead he had ended up making breakfast, every time. He did it gladly, but still… being thanked was nice once in a while.

Still puzzled, he placed the filled plate in front of Tony and seriously earned another mumbled: “Thanks.”

With a frown, Steve stared at his coffee cup and decided that maybe it was time to dial down on the caffeine and switch to water instead. As he did so, he saw from the corner of his eye that Sophie was smiling at him and while he was still at the fridge, she got up and joined him there, so he asked: “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’d just like some water, please.”, she said and when he poured her a glass, she winked at him, saying, “Are you okay?”

“Sure.”, Steve nodded, confused, but then Sophie lowered her voice and nodded at Tony, “That looked like a regular occurrence. Hope you don’t mind, but I just had to cut in.”

“W-What do you mean?”, he stammered, cursing himself for it and the way Sophie smirked at him, he was pretty sure she knew that, but she calmly stated, “He’s a billionaire with a big enough ego as it is, he doesn’t have to inflate it by bossing you around.”

“Uh…”, Steve tried to say something, then gave up. He had no idea how she had assessed that so quickly, he had not even really thought Tony had been bossing him around, he had thought… that it was just Tony’s way of dealing with things. And maybe it was, but for the first time Steve actually wondered whether he had allowed himself to fall into the old habit of being bullied, from way back when he had not been able to defend himself.

Was he even now unable, just because he was too dumb to see such things? He hated that thought, so naturally, he pushed it away, but told Sophie: “I don’t mind making breakfast.”

“Yeah, ‘cos you’re a jolly good soul.”, she countered with a smile, her voice still low, “But that’s no reason for being told to do something, especially not if you’d have done it willingly if he had just asked.”

He had no answer to that and Sophie just gave him another smirk, then turned around and walked back to the table, leaving him in the kitchen more confused than ever. Something was troubling about all this, but Steve did not want to rack his brains about it.

Thankfully, he was spared the effort when heavy footsteps approached the kitchen and Thor walked in.

“I wish you all a pleasant morning.”, he greeted them and Sophie smiled at her uncle, a true, unrestrained smile, unguarded. It was beautiful.

As soon as Steve caught himself at that thought, he pushed it away and when he did, he noticed that Thor looked tired, exhausted and thoroughly low-spirited.

“What happened?”, Sophie was the first to ask and she was at her uncle’s side, worry in her face, “Is something wrong?”

“Maybe it is.”, Thor allowed and put a beefy arm around her, making her almost vanish in that half embrace, so her voice was muffled as she asked, “Anything I can do?”

“No, little one.”, Thor said with a kind smile, “You are alive and well, you are family, that is enough.”

He pulled her closer for a moment and when he released her, she suggested with a smile: “How about pop tarts? Any bad news is easier with pop tarts.”

“Indeed they are.”, Thor boomed with laughter, “Then be so kind and fetch me some of that delicious treat.”

She dashed off, right past Steve, but then turned around and whispered: “How many does he take usually?”

At this he grinned and then replied: “As a snack? Make two.”

“Two pop tarts?”, Sophie frowned and he added with amusement, “Two boxes.”

She snorted with laughter, but then popped the sweets into the microwave and while she did so, Steve told Thor with a crooked smile: “She really is your niece, she loves pop tarts about as much as you do.”

“Maybe good taste runs in the family.”, Thor smiled, but his smile soon faded, probably because he remembered that Sophie actually was not related to him by blood. But for Steve it was plain to see that they shared a bond that he had thought possible only in family, even though they did not know each other. It did not seem to matter much.

When the pop tarts were ready, Sophie got them out and seated herself at the table next to Thor, handing him the contents of two boxes, expertly swatting Tony’s hand away from the plate in an almost casual manner, and she kept one piece to herself, quietly nibbling on it.

“Don’t let me die from excitement!”, Tony grumbled into his coffee, not awake yet, “What did your old man say?”

“That is what is so troubling.”, Thor explained between pop tarts, “My father was concerned that Loki had been seen alive, but all he did was reassure me that Heimdall was on the lookout and had not seen him. He suggested maybe our reports were wrong.”

Sophie paled at that and out of instinct, Steve moved closer to her, ready to catch her should she faint. It was ridiculous, even in his head, but he could not help it.

“What did you tell him?”, Bruce asked at the same moment Sophie enquired, “Did you mention me?”

“I did not.”, Thor said and she sighed in relief, “After he suggested that the reports may have been false, I did not dare mention you, my brother’s daughter. I… cannot put my finger to it, but something felt…off balance.”

“Maybe the old man’s going nuts.”, Tony shrugged, earning himself a glare from Thor who then said, “I admit he seemed different lately and he seemed weak today, but he is still my father.”

“So…you got nothing?”, Tony asked and Thor opened his mouth to answer, but then shrugged, “Exactly, I do not have new information on my brother’s whereabouts.”

“Jarvis?”, Tony asked and as the AI politely sprang to life, he added, “Buff up your security systems, will ya? I want this house absolutely reindeer proof!”

“Yes, Sir.”, was Jarvis’ response and Sophie frowned, “Reindeer?”

“Have you seen his helmet, sweetheart?”, Tony muttered, drinking his coffee, entirely missing the glares he received from Thor and Steve, but that was just about the status quo.

“However, I do have good news as well.”, Thor then said and turned to his niece, “I brought you these.”

With that, he produced three books, two of them rather small, like a normal book, but judging from their leather covers, they were old, worn but well kept, the third book was a gigantic volume bound in leather, plated with silver and as thick as Sophie’s leg. Steve honestly doubted she would be able to lift it.

The astonished face she showed was proof that she doubted it herself, but then her eyes lit up and she asked in awe: “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”, Thor stated, a bitter smile on his face, “Take them and put them to good use. Neither my brother nor my mother will be using them in Asgard.”

“Oh my gosh…”, Sophie whispered, gently stroking over the covers of the books, “Those are ancient works my father used to teach me magic. I never dreamed…”

“Take them.”, Thor asked of her again, taking her small, fragile hand into his big one, giving it an affectionate squeeze.

“Thank you.”, Sophie said and before either of them had had the chance to think it over, she was hugging Thor tightly, then released her uncle somewhat bashfully and sat down again, instantly yawning.

“You should rest.”, Bruce gently said and when she glanced at him, he chuckled, “Doctor’s orders. I can see that you’re excited about the books, but you need to sleep.”

“Those are works of magic.”, Sophie stated, but before she could talk more, really show her already obvious passion for it, Bruce quietly interrupted her, “That won’t do you any good if you can’t keep your eyes open or your brain working. You need to sleep.”

“I kno…”, Sophie said, interrupted by another yawn, making Thor laugh, “Come, little one. I will see you off to sleep.”

For a moment, just a second, Steve felt a painful pang of…something and thought that he would have liked to show her to her new room, but he kept his mouth shut.

When Sophie turned around to face him before she left the kitchen, he felt caught and could already feel a blush rising on his cheeks, so he almost did not catch her meaning when she said: “Thanks for the breakfast, it was delicious. Let me get back to you for it by cooking you all dinner some time. Burgers okay?”

“A-absolutely.”, he stammered, balling his fists in anger at his own awkwardness, but Sophie grinned and said, “Okay, then it’s settled. As soon as I can lift a frying pan. God’s sake…”

Thor laughed and carried the books for her while Jarvis already offered to guide them to Sophie’s new room. As soon as she was out of earshot, Tony grumbled: “Well, doesn’t sound good.”

“What do you mean?”, Bruce asked, only a tad quicker than Steve, but Tony snorted, “Are you two kidding me? Thor’s old man didn’t show much of a reaction to Loki’s apparent resurrection after he had sentenced his wayward son to a lifetime in prison. Am I the only one who thinks that’s odd?”

“No, you aren’t.”, Steve mumbled and received as reply, “Good to see you have some sense left and aren’t just staring at her pretty…eyes.”

Steve glared at him for that innuendo, but did not grace it with another reaction, but he did not need to, his thoughts were plain obvious as it seemed, for Tony gave him a nasty grin and added: “Yeah, I noticed. She does have a pretty face and pretty, ya know. Eyes.”

“Stop it.”, Steve sternly told him, but Tony snorted and shrugged, “Why? That you can be an idiot doesn’t make you right.”

“Tony.”, Bruce scolded, but he kept going, “In fact…that you can be such an idiot means you shouldn’t be taken too seriously.”

“Care to explain that statement?”, Steve angrily asked, even though his tone made clear that it was not a request. But Tony, as always, merely leaned back, lazily popped a bit of toast into his mouth and, chewing, said: “Meh, I dunno. It’s just you’re such a gentleman, always trying to save the poor damsel in distress that you fail to recognise the devil in disguise.”

Steve merely blinked at him, but Bruce mumbled: “Tony, Elvis was after the forties.”

“Yeah, I know, but Capsicle should’ve caught up to the King by now, haven’t you?”

“I do understand what you’re implying…”, Steve began, but was interrupted with an amused laugh, “Buddy, I’m not implying, I’m stating. You don’t see that the girl could be something other than an innocent bystander. Because you don’t want to see it.”

“And you seem bent to see her as the enemy.”, Steve shot back, only making Tony shrug while Bruce grimaced, obviously wishing he was somewhere else.

“I’m not bent on it, but I sure as heck won’t dismiss that possibility as quickly as you did.”

Fuming, Steve growled: “This conversation is over.”

“No it ain’t.”, Tony said and when Steve wanted to leave the kitchen, Tony actually blocked his way.

“Get out of my way.”, Steve told him, but he received a casual drawl, “No can do, Cap. It’s my house. But, more importantly, it’s the safety of all of us. Don’t trust her just ‘cos she’s got a pretty face.”

“That’s not it.”, Steve grumbled, and Tony acted as if he was thinking about it, but when Steve wanted to sidestep him, Tony blocked his way once again and then said, “I don’t know what it is but potentially very, very dangerous. She could be anything.”

“She saved me.”, Steve stated, not proud of it, but at least earning the desired effect, he had Tony’ attention, “Last night, when Loki was there, I had nothing to fight him with. He would have crushed me were it not for Sophie. She defeated him, made him flee.”

Tony stared at him for a moment and into the silence, Steve growled: “Now why would she do that if she was out to horribly kill us all?”

It took Tony another moment, then he had an explanation ready: “To gain your trust.”

“What?”, Steve scoffed, “Are you even listening to yourself?”

“All day. Gladly.”, Tony replied and Steve now shoved him out of the way to finally leave the kitchen.

“Why were you there in the first place?”, Tony called after him, “Huh, care to explain that, Cap? Why you entered a lady’s room in the middle of the night?”

Steve did not say a word, did not turn around, earning an exasperated sigh from the kitchen.

“Just take care, okay?”, Tony then called out, “We may not be best buddies, but that doesn’t mean I wanna watch you get your butt kicked.”

Now Steve glanced back over his shoulder, but did not stop, instead he simply left, looking for something to occupy his time with and hopefully avoid Tony for the rest of the day.

Why was everyone out to protect him all of a sudden? Made no sense.

As he found nothing to occupy his mind with, Steve aimlessly walked around the Tower until he almost bumped into Natasha. Without any preamble, he blurted out: “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”, Natasha calmly, coldly asked and Steve said, flustered, “For snapping at you earlier. You mean well and I know we don’t know yet if Sophie is really just an innocent victim of Hydra, we have no proof, but I don’t believe that she is part of Hydra or has her own agenda, even though Tony seems to think that and…I’m babbling.”

With these words he stopped as he saw Natasha smiling and she nodded, but then grinned and soon Steve found himself returning her smile.

“I am sorry, though.”, he said, but she shrugged, “It’s alright. Had it been the other way round, I wouldn’t have listened to you either.”

“Good to know. I’ll hold it against you.”, he joked, but Natasha fixed her gaze at him, then allowed, “If you ever get the chance, you can try.”

They stayed silent for a moment, then Steve added: “And thank you. For your concern.”

“Gosh, you really are too nice for you own good.”, Natasha muttered, but then something in her eyes, in her stance changed and he knew she was not joking anymore, but deadly serious when she said, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, how did Sarah save you with magic?”

Steve took a moment to word a reply, but Natasha specified her question: “She looks barely able to stand on her own two feet. How did she cast magic in that state?”

“Not alone, apparently.”, Steve then sighed and as she frowned, he hesitatingly elaborated, “She…somehow siphoned my strength. I don’t know how and Sophie said she doesn’t know either. I believe her, before you ask, and it did not leave me exhausted, just…temporarily weakened, just during the spell.”

Natasha was silent for a long moment, too long and Steve was already worrying she might get suspicious of Sophie when she said: “You did not mention that last night.”

“Because I know how it sounds.”, he countered, “Suspicious. As if she was trying to weaken me. But that’s not what it felt like.”

Natasha studied him with scrutiny in her gaze, then she asked, her voice level: “How did it feel?”

“As if… Just necessary. As if she did that with the sole thought of keeping us alive. Us both.”, he replied and when she raised an eyebrow at that, Steve sighed and added, “Yes, she was concerned she could’ve hurt me, somehow drained too much energy. Something like that. But she was genuinely concerned.”

Natasha thought in silence, her face set as if chiselled from stone, then she asked, again calmly and with an analytical interest: “How powerful do you think she is?”

“If she has her strength up and a motivation to fight…”, Steve guessed, “Very powerful.”

Natasha stayed silent, then nodded having come to a decision and she curtly told him: “Then maybe we should assess her powers.”

“Come again?”, Steve asked, doing a double-take, but Natasha explained, “I think we should train her. As soon as she is strong enough, we should see for ourselves what she’s capable of. A training session with her against the team.”

“You’re joking.”, Steve said, even though he knew she was not, “She’s weakened.”

“But she will regain her strength.”, Natasha said, then teased him, “Especially with such stacks of pancakes for breakfast.”

He grimaced, but she smiled: “I don’t blame her, no one can resist your pancakes.”

“Missing the point.”, Steve shook his head, “How is she supposed to compete against your training, Tony’s suits, my strength? Or Thor’s? Against Clint’s arrows? Not to mention Bruce.”

“We’ll leave him and the other guy out of it.”, Natasha stated, matter-of-factly, “But if she’s as powerful as you think she is, we have to know.”

“I don’t like it.”, Steve stated, but his opposition was already crumbling and judging from Natasha’s smirk, she knew that perfectly well, “You don’t have to. All you need to do is fight her then.”

He bit his tongue at that prospect, for he did not like it one bit, but he kept his mouth shut, at least until words slipped out he had not wanted to release: “She has to agree to this.”

“Of course.”, Natasha nodded, but there was a hint of tease in her voice as she added, “I said we should train with her, not attack her out of the blue.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but then allowed: “I see your reasoning.”

“Good then.”, Natasha nodded and, as she often did, simply went past him then, leaving him there in the hallway, alone with his thoughts. It was confusing, all of this.

So, with a sigh, he ignored the fact that he had already showered today and decided to hit the gym. Maybe a thorough, really thorough work-out would give him some clarity. He doubted it, but he thought he could hope.


	5. Chapter 5

Hours later, Steve’s arms, back and legs were sore…and his mind still troubled. Something was wrong and he was still not sure what it was. Well, yeah, he had an idea, but he did not want to admit that it could be true. He was most certainly not just some jerk who reduced a woman to her looks. Sophie was more than…and, God above, why was he thinking in that direction at all anyway?

He shook his head, angry at Tony for planting such ideas in his head.

“Pretty eyes…”, he muttered angrily as he walked towards the kitchen for a snack, “Of course it’s only pretty eyes, gosh.”

“Huh?”, a voice asked and Steve actually flinched, his heart instantly sank into his boots, then decided to stay there when he recognised Sophie sitting at the bar.

“Uh…”, he mumbled bashfully, then looked away, his gaze fixed at the fridge, “Nothin’.”

“Uh-huh.”, Sophie muttered, but grinned. Was he really an open book to everyone? Certainly seemed that way.

When he opened the fridge, she asked him: “Oh, could you hand me a glass of water, please?”

“Sure.”, Steve said, relieved to have something to do he thought he could accomplish and that did not involve talking, for within the instant he had set foot into the kitchen, his brain had felt like mush. Tony and his ideas…

“Here you go.”, Steve put the glass down and Sophie gave him a smile, “Thanks. You okay?”

“Yeah, just…I’m fine.”, he mumbled, “How about you?”

“Oh, I’m good.”, she chuckled, “Those books are fascinating!”

Only then did Steve see that she had the two smaller books with her, one laying to her left, the other open in front of her. He fetched himself an apple then joined Sophie at the bar and enquired: “I take it you already learned something?”

“Oh hell yeah!”, Sophie laughed, excited like child, “I had totally forgotten how to make objects float, although I once did that without thinking. Now I can only lift a pencil, I’m so outta shape. And then there’s this locator spell…!”

“Slow down.”, Steve smirked, “I don’t understand a word.”

“Sorry.”, she said and then her smile turned a tad bitter, “It’s just… my Dad used to teach me spells with those exact same books, I still remember how he brought them the first time. You know, back when he was still my Dad…and not some megalomaniacal tyrant who wanted to either enslave or kill us all.”

Why he said it, Steve did not know, but it felt right, so he went through with it: “I’m sorry I never knew him as your father, only as…”

“A mean jerk, yeah.”, Sophie muttered angrily, then lovingly stroked over the yellowed pages of the book in front of her, “He was a good man once, at least he was capable of being good. Or I was just a dumb kid loving her daddy no matter what.”

“Aren’t all children loving?”, Steve asked and she shrugged, but then smiled, “I guess. They see the world differently. Some days I wish I could still do that.”

This wish he could understand for as a child, everything had been easier, clearer, somehow lighter.

“As a child, every burden seems light because you know you don’t have to carry it on your own. At least that’s so if you have family.”, Steve lowly said, then looked away, his appetite for the apple suddenly vanished, “There’s no one left I’ve known.”

“I…can’t imagine what that’s like.”, Sophie whispered, “You’ve got to feel utterly alone.”

He sighed and did not dare look at her.

“I am so sorry.”, Sophie whined, “That was stupid, sorry.”

“What? No.”, Steve denied, turning towards her, “It’s alright.”

“Yeah?”, Sophie snorted, “You were already sad when you came in here, you really didn’t need a reminder. Sorry.”

“No, it’s alright, I assure you.”, he said and nodded when he saw the doubt in her scrunched-up face, “But I do feel alone sometimes, even though I have friends here.”

“Friends are wonderful, but there’s nothing like parents. Or maybe siblings, I can’t tell.”

“Only child, too?”, Steve enquired and she nodded, “Never had a friend I considered as close as a sister, either.”

“I did.”, Steve sighed, “He really felt like the brother I never had.”

“And now he’s gone…”, Sophie mumbled sadly, but Steve shook his head with a hopeful smile, “No, not yet. He’s merely lost. But I have faith that he will find his way. Hopefully that means we’ll meet again, be friends again, brothers.”

“How…?”, Sophie asked and for a moment, Steve hesitated.

“Ah.”, she said, bitterness in her voice and she turned away, focusing her eyes onto the book again, “I understand if you can’t tell me. After all, I might be the enem…”

“We were in the army together.”, Steve began, throwing caution to the wind for once, “But even before that, Bucky and I were friends, best friends. He…was always there for me and back then, I needed someone to look after me, I was weak before I received the serum that turned me into…well, this.”

Sophie frowned, but he continued: “I’m told they teach that in history class. And there’s an exhibition in the Smithsonian.”

“Yeah, I know.”, Sophie nodded, “I’ve seen it.”

“Then you probably know his name.”, he said and when she gestured for him to go on, he slowly revealed, “Bucky. James Barnes, called Bucky.”

“Yeah…but I thought he was killed.”, Sophie mumbled and Steve shook his head sadly; thinking of Bucky made him sad and happy all at the same time, which was extremely confusing, “That’s what we thought, all of us. But he wasn’t.”

“Then… what happened to him?”, Sophie asked, biting her lip and looking at him with genuine interest, almost concern for Bucky. Maybe Steve was imagining that, but if he was, he would go with that fantasy for a while and so he revealed: “Turns out Bucky wasn’t killed, but Hydra got to him. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I guess they…experimented on him, “augmented” him. And they brainwashed him. When I met him again, he was a killer, an assassin for Hydra…and he did not remember me.”

“Oh God…”, Sophie mumbled, paling as she hid her open mouth behind her hand, “That’s…oh God, Steve, I’m so sorry.”

“None of it is your fault.”, he shrugged and she replied, “I know, but still. That’s awful, I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.”, he said and Sophie chuckled bitterly, “Yeah, for what it’s worth. But, hang on, Hydra has fallen. Where could he possibly be?”

“I don’t know.”, he admitted, “But I think he remembered…something. We fought as my friends and I tried to bring down Hydra and…Bucky could’ve let me die.”

“But he didn’t.”, Sophie guessed and he nodded, “He didn’t. I like to believe that he remembered something.”

“Maybe he did.”, Sophie said, “It’s hard to know for sure. One of the patients in the hospital I work at, he had amnesia after an accident. But some things came back, like he could not remember his name, but sign a document, or when you showed him a picture of a cow, he didn’t know what it was, but when you asked him to describe a cow, he knew them perfectly well. And after a few months, he also recognised them on the pictures again.”

Steve smiled at the odd anecdote and Sophie bashfully bit her lip as she saw it: “Yeah, sorry, I know it isn’t the same, like at all. But what I’m trying to say is the human mind is an astonishing and confusing thing.”

“You can say that again…”, Steve mumbled, but she went on, smiling at his grumbled response, “So there’s no telling what’s possible and what isn’t. But if he did not let you die even though he could have, maybe there’s something coming back. Maybe he just needs time to figure things out.”

For a moment, the silence stretched, then, out of instinct, Steve softly asked: “Like you do?”

Sophie stared at him, her eyes wide and she was pale, but then she blinked and nodded, “Yeah, like I do. I don’t know what to make of my father, his alleged death and then finding he’s very much alive, what to make of my uncle. He’s wonderful, but…it’s strange. And being here, especially after being…imprisoned by Hydra. You know, they never told me what they wanted, why I was there. They just took blood, locked me up. They never spoke to me, not one word. I asked them again and again, but…after some days, I simply gave up.”

She was trying to blink tears away and before he could think about stopping himself, Steve had already put his hand on her back, slowly rubbing soothing circles. Gosh, he could feel her ribs and shoulder blades under his fingers…

“You never gave up.”, he told her and as she slowly looked up at him, he nodded, “If you’d given up, we had never pulled you out alive. But we did, you’re here. You’re a fighter.”

Sniffling, she wiped the tears away and whispered, her voice thick: “I ain’t. But thank you.”

Steve smiled, unsure what to do, so he slowly removed his hand…and actually flinched, again, when Jarvis spoke up: “Captain Rogers, there is a security breach at the lobby.”

“Loki?”, he asked, his heart pumping, and from the corner of his eye he saw Sophie tense, but square her shoulders, ready to fight, just like the fighter she claimed she was not.

“No, it is a woman.”, Jarvis said and Sophie groaned, “God, no.”

“What is it?”, Steve asked, but she ignored him and instead asked, “Jarvis, can you maybe show me a picture of her?”

“Certainly.”, the AI said and a screen in the wall flickered to life, then they could see the security feed from the lobby. A dark-haired woman all dressed in black was arguing with the security guard, gesturing wildly, clearly agitated, and, just as they were watching, she angrily shoved the guard away, making her way into the building. She was not a trained combatant, but she was fierce.

“Oh, hell.”, Sophie laughed bitterly and then told Steve, “That’s my Mom. Don’t even try stopping her.”

“Your Mom?”, he asked, raising is eyebrows in disbelief, “Seriously?”

“You’ll see what I mean when you meet her in a few minutes, tops. Don’t fight her, don’t argue. It’ll only cost you.”

Steve raised his eyebrows even higher for that did not sound like a loving mother, but Sophie probably guessed his thoughts and smiled: “She is a wonderful person, the best mother I could’ve hoped for. But you get between her and her cub – which is me - and you’re toast.”

“I’ll…keep that in mind.”, he mumbled and turned to go, “And I better meet her at the lobby before Tony launches some sort of attack.”

“Oh gosh, please do.”, Sophie asked, pale, “She’d even take on Iron Man in full armour if she thinks she has to. And she definitely does think that.”

“I figured.”, Steve said, then made his way down the hall and told Jarvis, “I will get the situation under control, you inform the others.”

“Right away, Captain Rogers.”, the AI complied.

But even so, Steve hurried to meet Sophie’s mother, just to be safe.

And not a moment too soon.

“Get your hands off me, moron.”, he heard a female voice, deep and velvety for a woman, but beautiful, at least in its sound if not in the words it spoke.

“Ma’am you can’t”…”, the security guard at the end of the lobby tried to hold her off, but with a threatening snarl she cut in, “Watch me.”

Without another word, she took on the guard, a man twice her size. She dodged his attempted grip on her, gracefully pranced to the side to avoid him, then gave him a shove that made him ungracefully fall flat onto his belly and then she pushed the door open with shoulders that look about as frail as Sophie’s, but nevertheless were strong…or fuelled by a mother’s fury.

“Ma’am, please, stand down.”, Steve asked of her, his hands raised to show he was not armed…but she ignored him. With her high heeled leather boots clicking on the floor, she aimed to walk past him, but he decided to block her way. Despite the high heels, she had to look up at him, but when Steve met her green eyes, so much like Sophie’s, he involuntarily gulped. Sophie had been right, this was a woman not to be fought with.

“You have three seconds, kid.”, she told him and when he blinked, confused as to what she might mean, she added, “Three seconds to get your cute butt outta my way or I will rip you apart. Three…two…”

“Sophie is alright.”, Steve told her before he could think of anything else to say and for a moment, there was a glimmer in her eyes, a flicker of hope. But it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, then the woman in front of him grabbed a surprisingly tight hold of his upper arm and pulled him out of her way. She tried to, at least, but he did not budge; he needed to tell her what had happened to her daughter, had to prepare her for how frail Sophie looked.

“Okay, kid, last chance.”, Sarah hissed, “You are standing between me and my daughter. Get out. Or my knee will meet your balls.”

Out of instinct, Steve took a step back, silently cursing himself for it, but Sarah smirked: “That’s what I thought. A knee to the nuts should even hurt a super-soldier.”

He could not help it, he frowned in surprise, but that only made Sarah snort derisively as she walked past him, heels ever clicking on the floor, “Don’t look all surprised, kid, I know who you are. But you’re standing between Sophie and me, that’s a mistake.”

“T-that was not my intention.”, Steve finally managed to say after Sarah had popped her head into a few rooms off the hallway, searching, “I will bring you to your daughter, but…”

“No buts.”, she snarled, but Steve calmly interrupted, “She has been through a lot. She’s fine now, physically, but it has taken a toll on her. She was nearly starved, so she’s very thin, frail even. I just wanted to warn you, to… kind of keep the edge off the shock.”

Sarah stared at him, then she spoke, her voice calm, but ice-cold and as sharp as a razor-blade: “My daughter has vanished without a word for a month. I was afraid she was dead, I imagined all sorts of things happening to her. Whatever happened, it can’t possibly be as bad as the images I saw every night lying awake. That she called me and told me she was “better” means she’s almost alright, I heard that in her voice. But I have to see her and God have mercy on your soul and your sorry cute ass if you stand between my daughter and me.”

“I wouldn’t think of it, ma’am.”, Steve told her honestly and she nodded, even gave him the tiniest of smiles, “Then lead the way, Cap.”

“Follow me.”, he invited her, but made use of the time they had until they would reach the kitchen, “She is physically weakened, but from what I can guess, she is coping well. However, I have to tell you that we all thought Loki dead…”

“Good riddance.”, Sarah hissed and Steve bit his tongue at the hatred in her voice, but then he quietly told her, “He is alive. And he was here.”

“What?”, Sarah snarled and he nodded, “Sophie is alright, she used her magic against him. She’s even trying to learn mor…”

“Get me to her now.”, she demanded and remembering what Sophie had told him, Steve did not try to argue, he simply did as he had been told and led the way to the kitchen. When they entered, Sophie shyly waved at them: “Hi, Mom.”

“Baby!”, Sarah cried out and, with a few quick steps in her high heels that made Steve question the laws of physics, she flung her arms around her daughter, holding her tightly. With a pang in his heart he did not want to dwell on, Steve averted his eyes, but he could not shut out their voices.

“Baby, what the hell happened?”, Sarah asked, not mad with anger, but with concern, even fear, and Sophie sniffled, “It’s a long story, Mom.”

“I will make you ladies some coffee.”, Steve offered and Sophie gave him a bright smile for it, “Thank you. Could you…”

“Add pop tarts?”, he guessed with a grin, “You betcha.”

With that, he left the two alone, but saw that they sat down, talking quietly, interrupted by the occasional outburst from Sarah, either in anger or concern. But Steve concentrated on making the promised coffee and quietly asked: “Jarvis? Could you please ask the rest of the gang to give them a few minutes? They have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Certainly, Captain Rogers.”, the AI stated, “Let me tell you that Miss Romanoff is currently threatening Mister Stark not to set foot near the kitchen until you give your permission.”

Chuckling, Steve replied: “Tell Natasha thanks from me, okay?”

“Right away.”, was the answer he got, then he placed the promised pop tarts on a plate, smiling to himself, and he also got coffee for the two of them, taking it all over to the table. To his surprise, they did not stop their conversation when he came near, so he heard Sarah curse: “If Hydra hadn’t fallen already, they’d have a new enemy now.”

“Mom…”, Sophie said, but was cut off, “Forget it, baby. I do have some means, some influence and I swear to God I will make use of them all.”

Quietly, Steve put the steaming coffee onto the table earning mumbled thanks from Sarah, but a smile from Sophie. When he turned to leave them again, her small hand was suddenly on his arm, quietly asking him to stay, or so he thought, so he sat down next t her, unsure what he was supposed to do.

“I’d like you two to meet, like, officially.”, Sophie said and introduced them, “Steve, this is my Mom, Sarah Blake. Mom, this is Steve Rogers, Captain America as you know, but after getting me out and helping me so much he’s kinda…my hero, too.”

He could not help it, he blushed fiercely and of course, Sarah picked up on that, fixing her gaze on him, a small, mocking smile curling her lips as she drawled: “Is that so?”

“Mom, stop it.”, Sophie asked her and Steve wished he had taken a cup of coffee for himself, at least then he would have something to hold on to, but instead he sat there a bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights, just waiting for a truck to run him over.

“Mom, he got me out, helped me even though there was no reason for him to do that or for his friends. For all the Avengers know, I could be a part of Hydra.”

“That’s ridiculous.”, Sarah snorted, but Sophie shook her head, “It’s not. It may seem that way for you, but they don’t know me. They have to think of themselves and their safety first.”

Steve was just about to object, when Sophie added: “I want to change that, somehow repay them for the kindness they’ve shown me. But I do understand that they can’t trust me right away.”

Sarah grumbled something, but then nodded curtly, stating: “I see I did a good job of raising a clever girl.”

Sophie smiled at her mother, then asked her: “I didn’t want you to come, because…”

“I don’t care about Hydra or Loki.”, Sarah interrupted her, “I know you just wanted to protect me by keeping me away, but baby, that’s my job, I protect you, not the other way round. And your hero here told me that Loki popped up and got a good beating for it. Serves him right. Hydra has it coming as well.”

“Mom…”, Sophie began trying to talk her out of it, a hopeless venture as Steve thought, when he frowned and asked quietly, “How do you want to take on Hydra?”

Sophie bit her lip, obviously uncomfortable, but Sarah smirked: “So you haven’t heard of me?”

“I can’t say that I have, ma’am.”, he said, but then the door to the kitchen was opened and Tony barged in, “Well, I have. Good to see you again, pumpkin.”

Steve was at a loss, as was Sophie who was staring at her mother, but Sarah smiled: “Tony. You look good.”

“Always did.”, he replied but then he addressed Steve, “Shut your pie hole, Cap, elephants are flying low tonight. We’ve met a couple times before.”

“Met?”, Steve stated dryly and although her daughter sat next to him, he added, “Does that mean what it usually means with you?”

“Oh, he wishes.”, Sarah laughed, but Tony snorted, “Pumpkin, I’m a taken man.”

“Or a dead man.”, Natasha said as she entered the kitchen behind Tony, “If you pull such a stunt again, you will be a dead man.”

“Yeah, sure.”, Tony waved her off, but then turned to Sarah, “Your contacts won’t help you against Hydra.”

“Says who?”, Sarah shrugged, but Sophie interrupted quietly, yet demanding their attention just with the tone of her voice, “Would someone please tell me what is going on?”

“Ha! Your daughter dearest doesn’t know what you’re dealing in?”, Tony laughed, but Sarah ignored him and faced her daughter, “Baby, you remember all the aunts you had as a child? Well, they were friends of mine, but also business partners.”

“How?”, Sophie demanded from her mother and Tony snatched a pop tart off the plate, mumbling, “Oh, that should be good!”

Steve glared at him for that, but admittedly, he was also very curious.

“I’ve had quite a few jobs to get us through, but for some years now, eve since you’re kind of old enough to take care of yourself for a few days, I’ve been a PI, a private investigator, specialised in unfaithful spouses, mostly men. Let’s just say some of them are very anxious to have their secrets protected and are willing to do quite a lot to ensure that they are, like… pay a whole lot of money, make an enquiry here, one there, fire someone for shady reasons…the whole shebang.”

“I…”, Sophie mumbled, “I never knew, never thought…wow.”

Sarah shrugged, but then added: “It paid the bills and left a handsome pile of money at the side. Plus some contacts. It’s a good job.”

“Oh, I bet…”, Sophie mumbled, but then smiled at her mother, “You could’ve told me, you know? I could never figure you behind a desk anyway.”

“Ha, a lot of it is boring paper work, baby.”, Sarah smiled, but then she addressed Steve, “So yeah, I do have friends in high places or at least people who owe me. That’s how I can act against Hydra. And I think we should join forces.”

He raised his eyebrows, trying desperately to form words as a reply, but failing. Tony, however, did not have the same problem: “Uh no. No no no, pumpkin, no.”

“Why not?”, Sarah asked, her grin challenging as she crossed her legs, showing off those high heels Steve still considered dangerous, “Afraid I might outsmart you?”

“Ha. No.”, Tony said, laughing at first, but then turning serious and Sarah smirked, “Yeah, right. You know that I will outsmart you.”

Tony glared at her for that and then muttered: “You really had to pass those snarky remarks on to your daughter, hadn’t you?”

“Oh, so you gave Tony here a run for his money?”, Sarah cooed at Sophie, “Good job, baby.”

“Mom…”, she complained, but Natasha mused with a smirk, “I like you.”

“Thanks.”, Sarah smiled at her, “You know, I may be old compared to you, but I think we could both benefit from a joining of forces. Especially you and I, Miss Romanoff.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”, Natasha said and for a moment, Steve felt they had lost him, utterly lost him. Judging from Sophie’s gaze on all the people in the room right up to Clint who was standing in the corner silently, she still knew what was going on, but Steve did not have a clue.

“Sir, Thor just arrived back from another trip to Asgard.”, Jarvis spoke up, making Sarah perk her ears and Sophie helpfully supplied, “The tower’s AI. He can tell you anything. And he is polite.”

“Thank you, Miss Blake.”, Jarvis spoke, but Tony cut in, “Yeah, yeah, cut the smooching, Jar. Send him here.”

“Right away.”, he replied and Sophie leaned to her mother again, “He is Loki’s brother. And he is really nice, okay?”

“I wasn’t going to eat him.”, Sarah shook her head indignantly, but then conspiratorially smiled at her daughter, “No matter how good he looks, there’s a better dish right in this room.”

“Mom!”, Sophie called quietly and Steve could not help it, he blushed and chuckled at the same time.

“See, even your personal superhero here thinks that way.”, Sarah grinned, but Steve denied, “Ma’am, that was not what I was thinking…”

“Sure.”, Sarah grinned, clearly unconvinced, so Steve tried again, “Ma’am, I am not…”

“Not yet.”, Sarah smiled at him and patted his arm, “But believe, every mother hates to see a man touch her daughter. Yet, in this room, if I had to choose…”

“Mom, please, stop it.”, Sophie groaned, but her mother laughed, “What? I’m your mother, it’s my job to protect you and embarrassed you. The protection I can outsource to your husband later on, when you’ve found one, but the embarrassment, that’ll always be my department and mine alone.”

Sophie groaned again, but Steve found himself chuckling. It was good not to be at the receiving end of ridicule for once and to see mockery executed with so much love. It was heart-warming.

“Where is my little one?”, the booming voice of Thor greeted them and with a few strides that, if not in their grace, but in their urgency, reminded Steve of Sarah’s steps towards her daughter, Thor was at his niece’s side and had pulled her into a tight embrace even before her mother had managed to get up from her seat. When she did, she tapped him on his broad shoulder. Letting go of Sophie, Thor turned to her and Sarah introduced herself: “Hi, I’m Sarah, her mother. Nice to see you’re a friendly uncle – so far – but break her heart and I will break every bone on your body.”

“I’d like to see you try.”, Thor laughed, but then nodded, “Do not worry, milady, should anyone try and hurt her, that fool will have to answer to at least you and me. More likely, that fool will have to answer to all of us.”

That said fool would definitely have to answer to Steve, but he kept that to himself, not yet ready to even face that thought that had come from…somewhere. He did not like to dwell on it.

“Sarah?”, Bruce asked behind her and she spun around, her mouth opening in a surprised gasp, but she quickly had it under control again and mumbled, “Bruce. I…did not expect you here.”

“Well, I kind of joined the team, so yeah…”, Dr. Banner slowly spoke, but Tony snorted, insensitive as always, “You know him too? Gosh, pumpkin, how many guys could be her da…”

“Shut it, Tony.”, Steve interrupted, not able to stop himself and into the following silence, he calmly spoke, “She is Loki’s daughter, I have seen her magic and I bet there is further evidence in the Hydra file. So let it go.”

“Spoken like a true gentleman.”, Sarah smiled, but there was still an edge to her voice and it sounded a bit too thick to Steve’s ears as she added, “Not that you ever had a shot at that, Tony.”

He grinned at her, but Bruce backed away, almost vanishing in the shadows next to Clint. Odd, Steve thought, but Natasha’s question distracted him: “So, any news from Asgard?”

“Not much.”, Thor replied, guiding Sophie back onto her chair and position himself behind it, his hands on her shoulders like a living shield, “My father has not found Loki, Heimdall has not seen a trace of him.”

Sarah leaned back in her chair, biting her lip in a way Steve by now knew from Sophie, so it hardly surprised him when she asked: “Mom? What are you thinking?”

“Is that unusual?”, Sarah addressed Thor, looking past her daughter, “For Heimdall not to find a trace of someone? I’m not familiar with Asgard past what you can read in a book on mythology, but I once read that Heimdall could see the grass growing.”

“Really?”, Tony chuckled, “Wow, that guys has to be nuts by now.”

“I assure you, he is very able and sane.”, Thor smiled curtly, but then nodded, “He is however truly able to see anything, so he should have seen Loki by now.”

“Unless…”, Sarah mused, but then licked her lips, as if to stall for time, “Unless he is looking in the wrong place.”

“What do you mean?”, Thor asked, every hint of a smile quenched from his voice and she shrugged, “I doubt your father or Heimdall would have allowed Loki to ever get away if they had been able to control him or at least find him. Yet he made a series of unnoticed trips to this beautiful world, the first one I know of resulting in my lovely daughter Sophie here, others when he was teaching her about her gift. So maybe he has means of escaping Heimdall’s surveillance. Or…or they are looking in the wrong place, scanning Earth when in fact they should be looking elsewhere.”

“And where?”, Thor asked, “It is true that my brother has managed to slip away from time to time, but never longer than a few days at most. Now however, we believed him dead and did therefore not look for him, but now that we are aware of his survival, we should have found him.”

“If you’re looking in the right place.”, Sarah repeated, but before anyone could ask her, she defensively raised her hands, “I don’t know, guys, it was just a thought. That bastard is very adept at sneaking and generally annoying the living crap outta people. Maybe he’s hiding right under your noses.”

“I really don’t think so, pumpkin.”, Tony snorted at her, but Sarah shrugged with a barely hidden smirk, “Fine, have it your way.”

“Hang on.”, Steve asked, at least trying to be the voice of reason, “Are you saying you think he could be hiding, waiting to get another chance to come and take Sophie?”

“No, I’m not.”, Sarah shot at him, but it was Natasha who explained, “You think he is deceiving us.”

“A hundred points to the lady in red.”, Sarah theatrically stated and as soon as Steve thought he understood what she meant, he asked, “How do you propose he deceives us all? He did not even try when he was here, when he tried to get to Sophie.”

Sarah’s gaze grew hard and cold at the mention of this and at the same time Steve, without his own volition, had put a hand onto Sophie’s shoulders, as if to hold her back should Loki suddenly materialise and try to snatch her away. As soon as he had realised that, he took his hand back, but the glance her mother gave him made him know that she had seen it. As had Sophie, who watched him out of the corner of her eye. Splendid, just brilliant. Steve hated making a fool of himself.

“I agree with Steve.”, Thor loudly said, making Sophie jump in her seat, “My brother was here, clearly on his own agenda and as himself. How should he deceive us?”

“All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t underestimate the bastard.”, Sarah shrugged, “He got away before, multiple times I guess, maybe he managed to pull that trick off once again. I don’t know. But you should not, under any circumstances, underestimate him.”

“Yeah, been there, done that.”, Tony mocked, “This really isn’t your area of expertise, anyway.”

“Finding bastards?”, Sarah laughed, “That’s exactly my area of expertise!”

“I…I’m hungry.”, Sophie mumbled quietly and got up, but as Sarah wanted to follow her, she waved her off, “It’s okay, Mom.”

Her mother stayed seated, engaged in a heated debate with Tony and Thor how Loki could or could not have deceived them, but Steve backed out of their discussion and followed Sophie, away from the table to the kitchen where she stood motionless in front of the fridge, looking inside, but he bet she was not really seeing anything.

“What do you want to eat?”, he asked and the clearly unexpected sound of his voice really made her jump, almost jump out of the too big sweatshirt she was wearing.

“Oh, it’s you…”, she breathed in relief and then giggled embarrassedly, “I…don’t know. I guess I’m not really that hungry.”

“Just trying to get away.”, he guessed and knew immediately that his words had hit home. Sophie grimaced, then peeped at him from out of under her eyelashes and asked: “That obvious?”

“Well…yeah.”, Steve admitted and they laughed for a moment, but then Sophie’s gaze went past him, back to the table. He followed it with his own eyes and then she spoke, quietly: “I love my Mom. She is the best I could ever have wished for. But sometimes she is…too loud, too rash, too…gruff. I know that she needed to protect herself and me when I was little, but she never stopped being the lioness, you know?”

“She only defends you every way she knows.”, Steve mused, looking at Sarah who was in an argument with Tony and Thor by now, Natasha chiming in from time to time and Clint silently observing them all. Not one of them seemed mad, but they were not too happy with each other, either, that much was clear.

“She has always been like that.”, a quiet voice made both Steve and Sophie turn to the left and from the dim light in the corner of the room, Bruce joined them, a sadness in his eyes he had not shown for months now, “Even when we were young, your mother has been a bit of… a wild thing.”

“So you do know her?”, Sophie asked, sounding as if her assumption had been correct and apparently it was for Bruce nodded sadly, “Yes, we met in school.”

Sophie did not comment on that and neither did Steve who did not know why, but somehow felt that the topic was not suitable. So instead he asked Sophie, only half joking: “Are you hungry now?”

“What?”, she laughed and it made him smile, too, to see her relaxed after her mother’s surprise visit had clearly shaken her a bit, “I…kind of am, yeah.”

“Good.”, he said and reached for a pan, “Spaghetti alright with you?”

“Totally.”, Sophie nodded and then asked, “Let me help you.”

“Wanna cut the tomatoes?”, he asked and handed her a knife even before she had replied, but she took it and, without a word, but a bright smile, she got to work, as did Bruce who chose more vegetables and got the noodles. That way, at a good distance and with the clutter of cooking, they could ignore the debate behind them and Steve thought he could watch how Sophie relaxed. Moreover, they worked well together, all three of them and as soon as the aroma of the bubbling sauce wafted into the rest of the kitchen, the arguing quieted down.

“Just like children…”, Sophie muttered, grinning at Steve and Bruce, “Give them the prospect of food and suddenly all is right as rain.”

“Works for me, too.”, Steve admitted and they laughed, but then he called out, “Everyone who wants a plate has to get their own!”

Suddenly, there was no argument at all anymore and they were all reaching for plates, filling them with noodles and sauce.

“You’re right.”, Steve mumbled, leaning a bit closer to Sophie, “Just like children.”

She giggled, but when she reached for a plate herself, Steve reached around her and did it for her, justifying his actions with a smirk and the words: “You need to eat and have already worked too much while cooking. Sit down and eat.”

“Yes, Sir.”, Sophie joked and poked him in the ribs, then took her plate and they all sat down together, the silence broken by the occasional comment and the clutter of cutlery.

“Damn, you can cook, kid.”, Sarah muttered at one point and Steve replied, “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Don’t get cocky.”, she shot back and Tony, for whatever reason, burst out laughing, so hard he almost fell off his chair. Steve did not ask, he did not want to know.

When they had eaten even the last bits of the spaghetti, Sarah got up and said: “Well, it was nice and all, but I have to catch my flight back.”

“Already?”, Sophie asked and at the same time, Tony cried, “You can’t leave already!”

“I can and I will.”, Sarah stated, but then turned to her daughter, “Have to, baby. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You take care, Mom, I’m well cared for here.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”, Sarah gave her a crooked smile and, just for the tiniest of moments, her gaze flickered to Steve, or at least he thought that was what it was, but then she hugged Sophie and waved goodbye, her back already turned and her heels clicking on the floor as she called, “I’ll show myself out. See ya!”

In the next minute, she was gone.

“Damn…”, Tony muttered and Clint nodded, “That’s one hell of a woman.”

Bruce sighed, but said nothing, and Sophie grew quiet, taking her plate to get up. But this time, Bruce stopped her: “No. I’ll do the dishes. You get some rest. Or go read your books.”

“O-okay. Thanks.”, she murmured and looked at her books, the ones Thor had gotten her, currently lying on the counter a few feet away. Suddenly, she smiled and even before she acted, Steve knew she was up to something.

She licked her lips, took a deep breath… and then had the book floating above the counter, slowly making its way to her, tumbling in the air…but flying.

“Whoa!”, Tony stared at her, “Witchcraft!”

Thor’s laughter boomed through the room as he put an arm around his niece, Natasha nodded impressed and Tony, still staring at the book, then laughed as well, joking: “Witchcraft indeed. Burn the witch.”

“Hands off.”, Sophie said, her voice hard but a smile on her lips, “Or the witch will burn you.”

“Meow.”, Clint mumbled, earning himself a slap against the back of his head from Natasha, but Thor laughed and then, so did Tony. Whatever distrust he had had for Sophie, apparently it was gone. And Steve was glad.

Sophie was smiling brightly, but then a yawn seemingly attacked her out of nowhere and Thor gently patted her shoulder: “Come, little one. It seems your magic has taken its toll.”

“That was just a little trick…”, Sophie complained, but yawned again and Thor laughed, “I can see that.”

“Yeah…sure.”, she mumbled and then waved at them all, “Good night.”

“Good night.”, Steve replied, deciding to join Bruce who was doing the dishes, but as soon as Sophie was out of earshot, Tony’s voice made him sit still: “Well, she’s innocent.”

“Where does that sudden insight come from?”, Natasha enquired and Tony blew raspberries at her, “C’mon, Red, have you seen her? She’s cute! Like giving you a tooth-ache cute. Sharp tongue, gorgeous like her mother, but much cuter. Someone like that can’t be in league with Hydra or Loki. Just can’t.”

Over the table, Steve met Tony’s gaze and for all the things they disagreed on, now they were seeing eye to eye on this topic.

“Good.”, Natasha then nodded, “I agree. And she could be of good use to us.”

“Beg your pardon?”, Steve muttered, not believing what he had just heard, but Natasha smirked at him, “No need to get mad, Cap. I just think that her training as a nurse can help us sift through the recovered Hydra data much faster. With all due respect to Bruce’s medical knowledge, but hers may be more profound in some aspects. Plus, another set of hands is never bad.”

“I agree.”, Bruce chimed in, drying his hands, “Her help would be appreciated if she feels up for it.”

Quiet murmurs of agreement ensued, until Natasha dispersed them with another comment: “I also think we should train her. In combat and the use of her magic.”

For a moment, all was quiet and she met Steve’s eyes, knowing that they agreed on that topic, but unsure what the rest would say.

“I’m in.”, Clint nodded and Tony said, “Yeah. Should be fun.”

Steve could not believe his ears, but he was glad. There was a lot of work to be done, but he was looking forward to it.


	6. Chapter 6

“Holy crap…”, Sophie muttered, when Tony showed her the vast amount of data they had pulled from Hydra bases and just about every other associated thing they had found, “You recovered all that?”

“Mostly me.”, Natasha nodded as she sat down next to her but was interrupted when Tony chimed in, “I did a lot, too!”

“Of course you did, big boy.”, Sophie smirked and scanned the amount of data in front of her, “So…what do you want me to do?”

“Look through the medical data with me.”, Bruce told her, turning his tea cup in his hands, “You may know some medical details I don’t, so maybe you can find something we would miss without you.”

“It’s worth a shot.”, Steve said behind her, looking over her shoulder at the amount of data Jarvis was showing them, “If you feel up to it.”

Sophie’s gaze hardened as she looked at the files and with a hard nod, her decision was made. Her jaw set, she muttered: “Whether or not I feel up to it doesn’t matter. I have to do this.”

“No, you don’t.”, Bruce gently told her, surprising Steve and clearly irritating Tony, “Not if you’re not feeling ready.”

“Screw that.”, Sophie chuckled, “If what I may or may not find in there helps you guys get to someone else held captive in a Hydra lab, then like hell I have to do that. And I will.”

For a reason he did not like to dwell on, Steve felt proud of her and judging from the smiles Sophie caused on the rest of them, they felt the same.

“Could I just get more coffee, please?”, Sophie asked with a grin, “I think I’m gonna need it.”

“Coming right up.”, Steve nodded and made his way to the kitchen, leaving them behind at the table where they already divided tasks amongst themselves, Natasha calling out to him, “We’re leaving the communications log to you.”

He nodded, already thinking through what he would look for, then thinking that maybe he should employ Jarvis’ help like everyone else did, but as he was not yet used to that, he muttered: “Can you give me an idea how exactly you can help me, Jarvis?”

“I can check the communications logs for cross-references you tell me to look for.”

Yeah, whatever that meant, exactly.

Taking out enough mugs for all of them, Steve asked the AI: “Then… I don’t know. Can you check for any logs involving the Winter Soldier?”

“Certainly.”, the AI replied without further comment as he carried coffee and mugs over to the table and Steve was not sure this was what Tony had intended when setting up this data search, but frankly, no one could expect him to just forget about Bucky.

When he reached the table, everyone was already buried in work, Jarvis constantly spouting new data at them according to the search they had asked him to run and they sifted through it all. From time to time one called out to another member of the team, then cross-referencing their findings, sometimes important findings popped up and were displayed on an extra screen. Steve barely realised it all, he was so focused on finding just a sliver of information about Bucky. But of course to no avail.

So he almost missed something.

“Guys.”, he got their attention, “I think I just found another base…”

“Really?”, Tony snorted derisively, but Steve did not pay him any mind, he simply asked Jarvis, “Show them.”

“Captain Rogers has found three references to Eastern Europe, specifically a deserted strip of land with only one town, Sokovia.”

“Show us that on the map.”, Tony asked and when Jarvis did, they saw a strip of land utterly deserted but for a little town Steve thought had to be Sokovia.

“There’s… not much there.”, Sophie mumbled and Tony nodded, “Actually, there’s nothing there.”

“There’s no way to determine where exactly that base is, but I think it is somewhere in the general area. And there’s mention of something they never mention the name of.”, Steve said, his words slowing down as he realised how weak that sounded. It had sounded a lot more convincing in his head, though.

“Huh?”, Tony asked, “You just lost me there, Cap.”

“Hydra has always been careful not to give away what they’re talking about.”, Natasha chimed in, but Steve replied, “Yes, but I think they haven’t been that careful. Not like in those communications.”

“So you think it’s too important to be mentioned directly?”, Sophie asked and surprised, Steve nodded, “Yeah. That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“You don’t think…?”, Bruce asked, but did not continue, so it was Tony who said it aloud, “Loki’s sceptre? Nah, can’t be.”

“What sceptre?”, Sophie asked at a loss and it was Clint, silent up until now, who told her, chuckling, “A sceptre your old man used to control minds. Wasn’t funny, believe me.”

She grimaced, but stayed silent, so Steve said: “I do think that there’s a base in the general area and yeah, whatever they got there is clearly important. Might be the sceptre, might not be.”

“Wait…”, Sophie mumbled and shoved data around on the screen she had been working on, “You said mind control, right?”

They all nodded and she produced a number of files she shoved to the side, mumbling all the while: “There’s a lot of data, about twins they experimented on, Sokovia is mentioned there, there’s also mention of a programme to somehow “repair” damage to bodies but…where is it? Oh, this.”

Saying that, she showed them a file, a big file, and explained: “This is about a soldier they recruited, as they claim, decades ago, but he escaped. I’m not through with the file, but trust me, it’s horrible. And they mentioned something about “rebooting” his mind, but not with the “usual” method, whatever that’s supposed to mean, but with a new device. You think that could be my father’s sceptre?”

“Absolutely.”, Tony said, impressed, “Good job, sweetheart.”

Steve heard them talk, but he did not really hear them at the same time. He was staring at the file, reading the information and with every word, his heart grew colder. He felt sick.

“Steve?”, Sophie asked him, but he could not answer, he merely shook his head and, feeling his skin was too tight, too hot and too cold at the same time, he jumped to his feet and retreated to the kitchen, just to get away.

“Oi, Cap!”, Tony yelled, but that simply made him exit the kitchen. Somewhere in his mind he thought that he should damn well explain himself, but he could not.

“Wait, Steve!”, someone called after him and when he turned around, God alone knew why, he saw Sophie at the end of the hall, running towards him. When had he sprinted through half the tower? He did not know and frankly, that scared him.

“Steve, what happened?”, Sophie asked when she reached him and even though he tried, he did not know how to answer, so he simply shook his head. Then she suddenly gasped and grabbed his hand, utterly surprising him with it, and she mumbled: “That file, that soldier…that was Bucky.”

He nodded, slowly exhaling, wondering why on Earth he had run away. It was stupid, he knew that, but still… his thought stopped when Sophie hugged him. Out of the blue, her arms were around his waist and her head face hidden against his chest.

Not knowing what to do and his heart beating more heavily than he cared to admit, Steve simply did what felt right and closed his arms around her shoulders. Yes, that definitely felt right.

“I’m sorry.”, Sophie mumbled when she, much too soon, pulled away, but he let her go, despite his reluctance, “I should have seen it sooner. You told me about Bucky. Sorry.”

“It’s alright, how should you have known.”, Steve reassured her and she chuckled bitterly, “Thinking harder? I knew that something about that file was off, that it meant something…apart from cruelty and sickness, I knew that there was something I had missed. Now I know.”

He merely shook his head, thinking that she was being too hard on herself, but suddenly, Sophie smiled up at him and said: “Look at it that way. When Hydra has been discussing methods to “reboot” Bucky’s brain just a week ago, ‘cause that’s how old that file is, then they haven’t found him yet. He is out there, still avoiding them.”

It took him a moment to process that, but when he did, a smile slowly crept onto Steve’s face and he said, impressed: “Good thinking. Thank you. And, you know, Bucky has always been quite the resourceful type.”

“He has to be in order to flee Hydra without a personal superhero to pull him out.”, Sophie joked and they chuckled together for a moment, but then Steve grew serious again and wondered under his breath, “I don’t know if I helped him at all when we met.”

“You did.”, Sophie firmly said, making Steve raise his eyebrows in astonishment, so she smirked and elaborated, “Given, I haven’t known you for long, but you are…a Samaritan, a real hero. You helped him, even if you hadn’t actively tried to do it, you would’ve helped him anyway because that’s who you are, in your heart of hearts, you just help, without expecting a reward, without any hidden thoughts. That’s who you are.”

“I’m not…”, Steve denied, but she shushed him, “Stop it, don’t make yourself smaller than you are. Even though you are quite tall.”

She playfully patted his arm and with sigh, Steve said: “We should get back.”

Sophie merely nodded, so he added bitterly: “I’ve really made a fool of myself, haven’t I?”

“No.”, Sophie shook her head, “I mean, yeah, Tony’s probably gonna say something stupid, but just because he doesn’t want to show that he’s actually a sweet and sensitive guy that totally understands why you had to leave as soon as you realised that file was about your best friend. The rest won’t say anything.”

“How can you be so sure?”, Steve asked her, his shame almost forgotten because of his astonishment, “You haven’t been with us for long, you said so yourself, yet you seem to know us all very well.”

Almost too well, but he did not think that in a suspicious manner, merely in a curious and astounded fashion.

“I’m a nurse.”, Sophie said with a grin, “You get a feeling for people when you treat them, you learn to spot those who will be trouble and those who are just loud, but not dangerous, you know, all hat and no cattle? In being mean, Tony is all hat and no cattle. He cares, but doesn’t want it to show. You however…you care, maybe too much, and you wear your heart on your sleeve. That’s why you ran. And they all know.”

“You know.”, Steve mumbled, still astonished. Sophie gave him a smile and they silently returned to the kitchen, where the rest of the team still sat at work. They glanced at him, but not one of them mentioned anything…apart from Tony, of course: “So, back from powdering your nose? And our sweet guest was kind enough to let you borrow her make-up? But you still look a little green around the gills.”

“Tony, shut it.”, Bruce quietly mumbled and with a shrug, he actually did let it go to Steve’s surprise. Sophie had been right; when he glanced at her, astonished, she grinned at him, even winked, then sat down without another word.

He returned to his work, as did Sophie and the rest of the team, working in silence, occasionally reporting new findings, making coffee or getting a bite to eat.

When Sophie reached for her fifth cup of coffee – yeah, Steve had counted – Bruce stopped her hand and said: “Maybe you should get some sleep.”

“I’m fine.”, Sophie protested, “I’m ju…”

She was interrupted by a yawn and chuckling, Tony said, without even looking up from the file he was reading: “Sweetheart, that’s your body telling your mind “Screw you, I wanna sleep.” Listen to it, can’t have you falling asleep right here at the table.”

“Hrmpf.”, Sophie grumbled, but then sighed and raised her hands in defeat, “Alright, alright, I see when I am outnumbered. I’m gonna lie down in the living room.”

“Why not your own room?”, Bruce asked and Sophie gave him a smirk, “So that you can give me a shout when you find something important or something you want me to take a look at. And you will give me a shout, okay? You can’t have all the fun without me.”

“Forget it.”, Tony said and this time, he even looked up from his file, “You’ll sleep. When you wake up by yourself, there’ll be plenty of time for you to catch up.”

“You’re mean.”, Sophie said, narrowing her eyes at him and sticking her tongue out, but a smile was already appearing at the corners of her mouth. Tony gasped theatrically: “Oh my wounded heart. Chop chop now, take a nap. I’m not your uncle, so don’t even think about trying to charm me. Off you go.”

Sophie chuckled to herself and then said: “You know, sometimes you are just like my mother.”

“Yeah, probably why we fight whenever we meet.”, Tony shot back, already focusing on the file again. Steve looked up from his own file and asked: “Should I find you a blanket?”

“Don’t bother.”, Sophie said, “My buddy Jarvis can tell me where to look. Plus, I’ll probably be conked out the minute I rest my head on any kind of level surface. Doesn’t have to be a pillow.”

“Okay…”, Steve mumbled, “Sweet dreams.”

“Thanks.”, Sophie waved goodbye, already yawning again as she exited the kitchen towards the living room.

When Steve turned back to his file, he felt all eyes on him.

“Is there a problem?”, he asked, fully aware of what they would probably say.

“Nope.”, Tony replied, way too quickly, Clint merely chuckled, Natasha smirked, even though she tried to hide it and Bruce took a deep breath, but then muttered, “No. Why would there be?”

“Spill.”, Steve ordered them, “If Thor was here, he’d have told me, laughing in my face as he did so.”

They all shook their heads, but Natasha glanced at him and said: “You already know. It’s not a problem, but you know what we mean.”

He did not want to grace that with an answer, so he simply got back to work, even though his silence meant that Tony was smirking to himself. He did not want to know.

So Steve tried to concentrate on his work, but he failed quite spectacularly. All the time his thoughts went back to Bucky…and to Sophie. Maybe it was a problem, after all, but he did not want to think of it that way. Instead, he tried harder to focus and he even found some more hints at Bucky, but nothing specific.

“Have you found anything…”, he began, but Tony interrupted him, “On your army buddy? Nope. I would’ve told ya if I had.”

“Thanks.”, Steve merely said, but then shook his head, realising that he had spent an hour on files without finding anything useful. And that was after Jarvis had already sifted through it all.

“I’ll take a break.”, he stated and Natasha waved him away, but when he turned to leave the kitchen, she called after him, “Just be ready for dinner, will you?”

With a smirk, he shot back: “Just tell me what you want me to cook and what you’re ready to do for it, then we can negotiate.”

“Lasagna. And nothing.”

“Thought so…”, Steve mumbled quietly as he decided to stretch his legs for a bit, maybe run a few rounds, just to clear his head. But that thought left him when he passed the living room and saw Sophie lying there on the sofa, curled up into a tight ball, almost hidden under the fluffy blanket she had picked. It felt wrong to watch her, but he could not help it, he stopped at the doorway, a smile slowly appearing on his lips.

But it instantly disappeared when he heard her whimper. It was a small sound, hardly noticeable, but it was there. As he watched, slowly entering the living room, Sophie frowned, moaned as if in pain and then jerked in her sleep. She was having a nightmare.

“Captain Rogers, I would advise you to do help Miss Blake, if you could, for she is in distress.”, Jarvis calmly side and Steve muttered as he hastened over to the couch, “You don’t say…”

“Her heart rate is accelerated, her blood pressure abnormally high and her brain very active even for the REM-phase of sleep.”, Jarvis added as Steve stood in front of the couch, feeling rather helplessly, “All the parameters say that Miss Blake is experiencing an intense nightmare.”

He already knew that, but what he did not know was how to help her with that. So, even though he had heard that it was not a good idea, in his helplessness Steve decided to try and wake her up nonetheless.

“Sophie.”, he began quietly, not willing to startle her, but of course she did not hear him.

“Sophie, c’mon, wake up.”, he tried again and sat down on the couch, gently touching her shoulders as he tried to shake her awake, “Wake up, it’s just a dream.”

He said that even though he was sure it was more than a dream, perhaps a memory.

“Sophie!”, he said, sharply this time and shook her, but all she did was flail her arms, lash out at him in her frenzied terror. He was really running out of options… when she suddenly opened her eyes, stared at him and fought even more violently.

“Sophie, it’s me.”, he said, fending her hands off as gently as possible, “It’s me, you’re safe.”

Slowly, she stopped fighting and stared at him, uncomprehending.

“It’s me.”, he repeated unsure whether that would help her. Sophie gulped, then suddenly sobbed and her eyes teared up.

“Steve…”, she whispered, obviously shaking off the mist of the nightmare, but not the fear as her tears started to flow.

“It’s okay, you’re safe.”, Steve reassured her and without another thought he pulled her into his arms, “You’re safe, it was just a dream, it’s over now.”

She was so frail, so thin, but clung to him with surprising strength, clawing her fingers into his shirt as she leaned into him, crying.

“It’s alright, nothing’s going to harm you here.”, he mumbled into her hair and slowly, sniffling, Sophie retreated, but took a tight hold of his hand, hers cold as ice, “I know. I just…”

She exhaled shakily, took a deep breath and, squeezing his hand with surprising strength, she said: “I was… back in that Hydra lab. Felt the cold, the pain, the cramps from hunger. I even thought you were one of them. Sorry.”

“It was a dream.”, Steve told her and also took her other hand, warming them both in his grasp, “You have nothing to be sorry for. Just know that you are safe. I will not let anything happen to you.”

“Thank you.”, Sophie sniffled quietly and tightened her hold on his hands, “Gosh, you’re warm. That really feels good after that dream.”

“Here.”, he said and pulled the blanket over her shoulder again, bundling her up and rubbing her back when she suddenly chuckled, “You know, it does seem ridiculous that I awake so cold. I’m half Frostgiant!”

“Which is why you are still alive.”, Steve said, “They kept you in that Hydra base at temperatures that would have killed everyone else.”

“Not everyone.”, Sophie quipped, “They pulled you outta the ice after 70 years, didn’t they?”

“Yeah, point taken.”, Steve grinned, but then asked more serious, “Do you want to sleep some more? Or should we get you to the kitchen and warm you up with a cup of tea?”

“How about hot chocolate?”, Sophie smiled and Steve laughed, “And some pop tarts to go along? Sure, be my guest.”

“Yeah!”, Sophie laughed and together, they made their way back, to find only Bruce left at the table.

“Hey, Sophie…what happened?”, he asked concerned and she sniffled, but smiled bravely, “Bad dream, that’s all. Have some medicinal tea for that, doctor?”

“In fact, I do.”, Bruce said, “I’ll make you a cup.”

“Thanks, but no. I’d rather have hot chocolate. It’s the ultimate remedy.”, she told him and Bruce laughed, “Alright. I’ll make the pop tarts along with it.”

She laughed at this and Steve shrugged with a grin: “You’re consumption of those things is almost as legendary as Thor’s.”

She giggled and sat down at the table, immediately pulling up a file.

“Are you ready to go back to work…?”, Steve asked her, but all she did was shrug, “Why not? No way in hell can I sleep after that dream.”

“That bad, huh?”, Bruce asked form the stove and she nodded, “Flashback to the Hydra lab. Not pleasant.”

“At least you were not alone.”, Bruce added when he brought the pop tarts to the table and Sophie gave Steve a smile, “Fortunately, I was not, yeah.”

Bruce went back to get the mug of hot cocoa for Sophie and when he too had taken a seat, she asked: “Have you found any medical files you want me to take a look at?”

“So far, no.”, Bruce said, “But from what I saw from the file earlier, it was gruesome, but maybe we can learn more about Bucky through it.”

“Enough to find him?”, Sophie asked, voicing Steve’s hope he had not dared to speak out aloud.

“Maybe?”, Bruce shrugged, “No promises, but it is possible. At least it is something to start with.”

“True.”, Sophie nodded and pulled up the file, studying it, nibbling at a pop tart. Steve too returned to his work, but the both of them stopped when Bruce quietly said: “You know, in another life, you could have been my child.”

Sophie silently blinked at him and Bruce grimaced: “Forgive me, I should not have said that… or anything at all. It’s just… I knew your mother when we were at school together. And…well, I was young and foolish, I hoped…”

“Hoped for what?”, Sophie quietly asked and even though he clearly did not want to answer, he did, “I hoped that your mother would change her mind. But I was young and foolish, as I said. She told me she did not want anything serious, but I hoped nonetheless that she would want to go steady at some point. Well, she did not. And a few months later, she was pregnant with you. From a stranger she had met during New Year’s Eve, in a bar.”

“I know…”, Sophie mumbled, “I’m…sorry.”

“No, don’t be.”, Bruce mildly smiled at her, “I was a fool and I know that now. I dreamed of something I knew could never come true. And after all that happened, I am glad you are not my child. With the other guy, I would have had to abandon you and Sarah.”

“Well, Loki did not stick around, either.”, Sophie smiled bitterly and Bruce sighed, “No, he did not. But let me tell you this. We will stick around, all of us. We will help you.”

With that, he offered his hand and waited for Sophie to take it, which she did with a smile: “Thank you.”

Steve felt as if he should have left them for this moment, but when Sophie turned to him, the same smile still on her lips, he forgot about the thought.

When she returned to her work, Bucky’s file from Hydra, he too focused on the comm log he had been studying before, but it took him a while to really focus back on the words written there.


	7. Chapter 7

Sifting through the data and smoking out the occasional Hydra base made the upcoming weeks just fly by. They went so fast Steve actually found himself wondering one day when he caught a glimpse of the calendar.

More clearly, though, he saw the course of time in Sophie. She ate regularly – if she did not forget about it over the data she was looking at with Bruce, who always was the first to remind her to take breaks – and she had regained her weight. She had even started training with Natasha, at first merely to build up muscle and fitness, but a few days ago, they had started on self-defence techniques. Natasha could be relentless, but they seemed to get along quite well, so Steve was not at all worried.

At least not about Sophie or Natasha, but rather a bit about himself for he could not help but see how much better Sophie looked now that she was not as frail anymore. She had curves and… he stopped that thought right there and in order to prevent his mind from wandering, he upped his bench pressing with some extra weights.

That helped, a bit, as did facing away from them, but he could still hear their grunts of effort, Sophie’s laughter… and yes, he had come to the realisation that he was, for lack of a better word, quite infatuated with Sophie.

He did not dare call it anything else but an infatuation, even though he was well aware that it probably was more, a lot more.

Growling at the way his thoughts had taken despite his efforts to foreclose that particular chain of thought, he let the weight clash loudly onto the mount on the bench and then sat up, arguing with himself whether or not staying in the gym with both Natasha and Sophie, but no one else, would make any sense.

He did not yet have an answer when Natasha’s voice made him turn around to face her: “Hey, Steve! Come over here!”

He arched an eyebrow, unsure what exactly she wanted, but she impatiently waved him over and so he shrugged, got up and walked over to the training mat she was standing on, next to Sophie, and he asked: “Yeah?”

“Attack her.”, Natasha demanded, nodding at Sophie. It took him a moment, a long moment, then he stammered: “What?”

“You heard me, soldier.”, Natasha grinned, but he ignored her and instead looked at Sophie who smirked, “Ready when you are.”

He looked to and fro between the two of them, but then sighed in defeat and nodded at Sophie, right before he took a step towards her. He would go easy on her, he decided, and as he did not want to hurt her, he did try to grab her, but he did so far from full speed and full force.

Next thing he knew, he was lying flat on his back, the wind knocked out of his lungs, staring at the ceiling.

Again it took him a moment, but when realisation hit him, he blinked a few times.

She had floored him. Sophie, a girl half his weight and the length of at least a head and a half shorter than him, had floored him. Mercilessly.

“Hey, you alright down there?”, Sophie asked, smiling and frowning at the same time as her face appeared in the spot of ceiling he had been staring at.

Shocked into motion, Steve sat up, leaning away from her, sputtering: “How…how did you do that?”

Natasha grinned at him: “Aw, I gotta say, I’m proud of her. No one had you down that quickly.”

Steve cleared his throat and got up, staring at Sophie, still surprised, so he asked her again: “How did you do that?”

“Let me show you.”, she offered, “Give me your arm.”

Slowly, he extended his arm…and was flat on his back once again.

“Very funny.”, he grumbled while the girls giggled, but when he sat up, Sophie stood there, offering her hand to help him up and she bit her lip embarrassed. He had to admit, she was cute.

“Sorry.”, she said, “I just couldn’t resist. The opportunity was just…”

She shrugged and then pulled him to his feet, while Natasha chimed in: “I would’ve been disappointed if she had not floored you, again. Too bad I did not film this.”

“Thank God…”, Steve muttered, fully aware that if she had filmed it, Tony would have inevitably seen it and then he would have never heard the end of it.

“Well, I guess you learned today’s lesson.”, Natasha addressed her student, Sophie, but then winked at Steve, “And maybe it also got into your thick skull.”

“Come again?”, he asked, but Natasha merely waved at him and left.

“I guess…”, Sophie mused, “Maybe she meant that you should suggest a new paint for the ceiling to Tony. No?”

Steve stared at her, frowning, then she exploded in laughter and told him, “Wow, you are an easy mark sometimes.”

“Thanks…”, he grumbled, but Sophie playfully slapped his arm, “Aw, come on. I think what she really meant is: Never underestimate your opponent, no matter how not dangerous they look.”

“That…”, Steve began, at first about to dismiss her notion, but then he paused and said instead, “That could actually be true.”

“Don’t sound so surprised.”, Sophie laughed and he had to chime in, her laughter was just contagious.

“Alright, I’m gonna go take a shower.”, Sophie announced and for a moment, Steve’s thought took a way he had not given them permission for, but they did not care, they went there anyway.

“…be ready at seven!”, Sophie’s voice pulled him out of his inappropriate thoughts of her in the shower and he asked, “Huh?”

She grinned at him over her shoulder and Steve was almost afraid she might have guessed his thoughts, so he added, much too formally: “Beg your pardon, ma’am?”

“Don’t you “ma’am” me.”, Sophie laughed, “Seven, in the kitchen, burger dinner. Ring a bell?”

“Oh…”, he mumbled when he finally remembered that she had planned to keep true on her word and invite them all to a home-cooked dinner of burgers tonight, “Yeah, sure, I’ll be there. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Good.”, Sophie smiled and left, leaving Steve alone in the gym, alone with thoughts that seemed out of control lately. Who was he kidding? It had all begun the moment he had laid eyes on Sophie. He did not understand it, but he sure as heck could not do anything about it. He had tried to forget her and he tried again to at least purge those inappropriate thoughts for the time being by forcing himself to sprint a few rounds in the gym, but alas, the result was the same as it had been for the last couple of weeks: It did not work.

Out of breath he admitted to himself that sooner or later, he would slip up and actually say or do some of those inappropriate things he thought all the time. Judging from how often he thought about Sophie, probably sooner.

With a sigh he called it a day, relieved that there had at least not been another Hydra base, with more cruelties and abhorring data, but if he was frank about it, at the moment he would rather face a base riddled with Hydra henchmen than that burger dinner. He was sure he would make a fool of himself, but then again, there was nothing he could do. He would just rely on the good manners his mother had raised him with… a lifetime ago.

First though, he too had to take a shower so he could feel like a human being again. While the water splashed on him, he decided that he would simply see it as an evening with friends – which it was, nothing more – and that he would probably go to bed soon. Chuckling to himself, Steve thought that at least he could not get drunk and then do something stupid.

He kept smiling when the thought occurred to him that Bucky would have probably countered that statement with something along the lines of that he did not need alcohol to embarrass himself. At least the old Bucky would have said something like that, but Steve had no idea how his friend would react now. If they were still friends at all.

Shoving the depressing thoughts aside, he got out of the shower and got dressed. He still had two hours, so he decided to spend them by looking through data, looking for Bucky, for any hint at all where he might be hiding, so he sat down on his couch and got to work.

Two hours and ten minutes later, he had to admit that he had found nothing of use… and he was late for dinner.

“Oh shoot.”, Steve muttered as he jumped to his feet. He was late, how did that happen? He knew that quite well, but he really did feel bad about it, so he quickly stashed the printed data away and made his way down to the kitchen.

From well away he could already hear their merry chatter, he heard Thor’s booming laughter and the sizzle of their dinner still being cooked. So at least he was not too late…

When he entered the kitchen, Tony raised his glass of whiskey to him and joked: “Oi, look who finally decided to show up! Even I’m here already, late entry for maximum effect is my thing, Cap, don’t ya steal it.”

“I doubt I could even if I tried.”, he shot back with a grin, but then added, “Sorry I’m late.”

“Any later and Thor would have…stop it!”, Sophie said, but interrupted herself by smacking her uncle over his hand with a metal spatula, “The cookies are for later.”

“But, little one…”, Thor tried to persuade her, however, he stood no chance against Sophie and Natasha together, who came to her defence, “Stop it, Thor, or there won’t be cookies at all.”

“Yeah, because he’ll eat them behind our backs.”, Clint chuckled, but he was silenced when Sophie grimly said, “Not gonna happen, boys.”

She meant that, Steve could see it clear as day, and it brought a smile to his face. She could be fierce if she wanted to, but sweet as well. In the back of his mind he thought that maybe those thoughts were headed into an inappropriate direction, but the rest of his mind did not care in the least and made him join Sophie at the stove to ask her: “Anything I can help you with?”

“I was…under the impression that I was inviting y’all to dinner.”, Sophie gave him a smirk and he shrugged apologetically, “Just trying to make amends for being late.”

They laughed together, but Sophie suddenly stopped and whacked Thor over the knuckles again as he sneakily reached for the cookies. Sophie then took the plate and handed it to Steve, telling him in the gravest voice: “Guard them, with your life if you have to. You and Natasha are the only ones I can trust them with.”

“Hey, what about me?”, Bruce complained, obviously trying hard not to smile already like the rest of them did, but when Sophie turned to him, she grimaced, ”Sorry, but no. Not even you.”

“Fair enough.”, Bruce shrugged and laughter filled the kitchen again. It was a joyous, wonderful sound, a sound Steve had almost believed forgotten with all the pain and struggle due to Hydra. But he found himself smiling constantly while standing next to Sophie, guarding the cookies from Thor who was slowly edging closer, and he simply watched Sophie cook for all of them. It was…soothing. Homey. Something Steve had missed ever since his mother had died all those years ago.

The thought made him uneasy for a moment, but the uneasiness could not gain ground in the calming surroundings.

“Dinner’s just about ready!”, Sophie announced, “Is the table set?”

“I’ll go…”, Steve offered and had already taken a step away when Sophie stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, “Not you.”

He stood there, dumbfounded, and stared at her. The moment stretched, already seemed too long, but he simply kept staring. He could not help it.

“You are my cookie-guard.”, Sophie smiled up at him and that broke the moment. Steve smiled, somewhat bitterly, and looked away, nodding, but staying exactly where he was.

“And my personal super-hero, so don’t you leave.”, he thought he heard her mutter under her breath as Bruce and Clint set the table, but he was not sure. What he was absolutely positive about, though, was that they were watched and sure enough, he found Tony glancing at him and Sophie, but as soon as he met Steve’s eyes, he looked away, an innocent grin on his face. Too innocent, especially for Tony. Natasha was also watching them out of the corner of her eye and as much as Steve found it confusing, he also found it infuriating. She knew, Natasha knew for sure, what he was feeling, what thoughts he was trying to hide. Sometimes he was convinced she could read minds. Which was ridiculous, he knew that, but still…

“Table’s ready!”, Clint hollered from the now set table and Sophie grinned widely as she flipped the burgers one last time, then got the buns out of the oven and loaded a tray with it all.

“Let me carry that.”, Steve asked and she grinned, “Why, thank you. An old-school gentleman.”

They exchanged their loads, cookie plate for tray, and got both to the table where vegetables and salad had already been laid out.

“You did all that this afternoon?”, Steve asked in genuine astonishment and Thor laughed, “Sure, my lovely niece possesses magic, my friend!”

“Oh, shush.”, Sophie muttered and then winked at Steve, “I cheated a bit and prepared the salad before training with Tasha.”

“Still… thank you for all that work.”, he said softly and for a moment there, he thought Sophie was blushing, just the smallest bit, but then that hint vanished and she cheekily winked at him, “Don’t thank me before you’ve eaten. I could still give y’all food poisoning.”

“I knew it.”, Tony hissed, “You are Hydra, aren’t you.”

There was silence all around the table.

“Geez, that was joke!”, Tony shook his head, genuinely offended, “Dig in!”

“It was an…ill-timed joke.”, Bruce diplomatically said, but Clint snorted, “Hands down? It was stupid. But that’s Tony for ya.”

“Watch it.”, Tony shot at him but then was the first to grab a burger and fill the bun with everything he wanted… which was so much that Sophie laughed: “No way you are getting that thing into your mouth.”

“Don’t dare him.”, Natasha advised and Steve had to agree, “Makes him do all sorts of things.”

“Stupid things.”, Clint added and Sophie smirked, “Seems to be the motto of the day, huh?”

“Why, what stupid thing did Cap do?”, Tony asked, pressing the upper half of the bun down to compress his burger to a manageable size.

“Why is this suddenly about me?”, Steve asked, half irked, half amused, not sure what he should be exactly.

“Because I’m a genius, Bruce is a genius. You are not.”, Tony concluded, but Steve, reaching for the salad smiled, “Neither is Thor, nor Clint or Natasha. No offence.”

“None taken, my friend.”, Thor laughed and then addressed Tony, “I have to agree with Steve.”

“Well… Natasha and Clint are too dangerous to insult and so’s Thor. That’s why you, Cap, must’ve done something stupid today. Any day.”, Tony countered and then even winked at him, glanced up at Sophie.

For the love of God, how had Tony gotten wind of his feelings? Steve’s eyes darted to Natasha, silently wondering whether she had told Tony, but she merely raised an eyebrow in a question he heard perfectly in his mind without her ever having to trouble her voice with speaking: “Seriously, Steve, you think I’d do that? Yeah, I would. To anyone but Barton and you.”

He knew that, but…

“Well, I did almost fall out of bed this morning.”, Steve allowed with a shrug and let the amicable laughter wash over him.

“Seriously?”, Sophie grinned, “I’d have taken you for an early bird.”

“I am. Usually.”, Steve agreed, “Just not so much after… a short night.”

He did not elaborate on the reasons for his short night, did not want to explain that he had spent hours brooding over Bucky’s Hydra file and some more over his feelings for Sophie just to lose the rest of the night to nightmares. They did not have to know.

“If you only almost fell out of bed, then at least you’re agile even after a short night.”, Sophie jested, almost making Tony spit out the huge bite of burger he had miraculously filled into his mouth somehow.

“What?”, Clint asked, but Steve sighed, “I don’t think I want to know the direction his thoughts took.”

“Right…probably best not to know.”, Clint agreed and slapped the upper half of the bun on his filled burger. Quiet murmur accompanied the last bit of preparation of their dinner, then they all started eating just as Tony started his second burger.

“Those are…wow.”, Clint mumbled, “Haven’t had such a great burger since…my Ma cooked one.”

“Nice to know.”, Sophie smiled and Thor clapped her on her back, almost throwing her against the edge of the table as he did so, “Little one, you truly are wondrous. If all your cooking is this delicious…”

“Shut it, Uncle.”, she laughed, “You just want the cookies.”

“Can’t blame him.”, Bruce smiled, “They smelled delicious in the oven already.”

“There’s plenty, due to Steve’s heroic guard-duty, so…”, Sophie began, but he interrupted, “Oh no! I didn’t do much to guard them.”

“Enough.”, she winked with her answer and then ate her burger in silence. At least she tried to, but if the usual chaos had been any indication, Sophie had already known that tonight’s dinner would be no different, it was noisy, it was crowded and complete and utter chaos… but it was family. At least sort of, at least to Steve. It was all the family he had left and he intended to keep at least them close to him.

After Thor had finished his fourth burger in record time, he reached for the plate of cookies and actually managed to grab one before Sophie could take a hold of his wrist.

“You really are hopeless.”, she laughed and her uncle countered, “Hopelessly in love with your cooking.”

“Don’t let Jane hear that.”, Clint advised, but Thor shrugged, “She says herself that she is not much of a cook and… I have to agree.”

“Oh, that’s harsh.”, Sophie told him, but he spared himself a reply by taking a bite of the cookie. His expression froze, he blinked a few times and then, without a word of warning, he took the plate of cookies, got up and announced: “Those are mine.”

“Thor.”, Sophie shook her head, “What are you doing?”

“Claiming them.”, Thor stated, “I will not share those delicious treats.”

“Aw, come on!”, Tony cried, “I wanted some too!”

“You have got to be kidding me.”, Natasha muttered, but Sophie smirked and told Steve in a low voice, “Good thing you told me early on that they can be like children.”

“Sometimes.”, he nodded and watched her get up. Thor protectively lifted the plate of cookies out of her reach, but she just smirked, walked past him and opened a cabinet, producing another plate filled with cookies: “I made two batches. I knew Thor would claim one.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but Sophie cut him off: “One. One whole batch, just for you. The other batch is for the rest of us.”

“Oh well.”, he allowed and smiled at his niece, putting one arm around her shoulders, still tiny compared to his bulky form, but at least far from being as frail as they had been.

“You are wondrous, little one.”, Thor told her and pressed a light kiss to her hair. Sophie, too, gave him a half hug, but then put the second cookie plate onto the table and everyone was quick at snatching some, just to be sure.

“You really are children.”, Sophie smiled, nibbling on a cookie herself and Clint grunted an affirmative, but as soon as he had tasted one cookie, he secured some more. Steve smiled, shaking his head, and then took his first bite of the cookie.

“Wow…”, he mumbled, “They are that good.”

“Thanks.”, Sophie smiled and in no time, both plates were empty. Thor and Tony even collected the last few crumbs they could find. Tony was also the first to excuse himself, even though it was not much of an excuse: “Thanks for the dinner, sweetheart. If you don’t wanna work as a nurse anymore, you can always become my personal chef.”

“I’ll think about it.”, Sophie told him, and he waved, “My lab’s calling me. Ta ta!”

As soon as he was out of earshot, Bruce began to say something, but Sophie cut him off with a grin: “Don’t tell me. He is insufferable as a boss, am I right?”

Bruce thought about his reply, his mouth open, then he nodded: “Pretty much.”

He earned chuckles for that and excused himself: “If it’s alright with you, I’ll better keep an eye on him in the lab.”

“Sure, off you go.”, Sophie waved, but he stopped at the doorway, “Thank you for that dinner.”

“You’re welcome.”, Sophie smiled, and Steve replied, “Thank you. But you have worked enough for today, I will do the dishes.”

“But…”, she began as he was already collecting plates and he said, “It’s the least I can do for being late.”

Without another word he got started on the dishes, but Sophie objected, “At least let me help you.”

“You don’t have to, really.”, Steve said, a part of him wishing that she would leave so he would not run the risk of revealing his feelings, another part of him ready to beg her to stay, but in the end, as he had known she would, Sophie decided the matter, “But I want to help you. Really.”

“Thank you again, then.”, he smiled and they got to work together. He faintly realised that the rest had left the kitchen at some point, but although a part of him was nervous alone with Sophie, the much greater part was very satisfied with that.

“Alright, let’s do this.”, Sophie mumbled and pulled the tie out of her hair, allowing her soft brown waves to fall down over her shoulders, curling at the tips. Steve felt as if struck by lightning, he could not take his eyes off her. And when Sophie gathered her hair to tie it into a ponytail again, he said: “Don’t.”

“Huh?”, she asked, confusion in her eyes and her movements frozen, “What was that?”

He fumbled for words, tried desperately to find a way to talk his way out of this. Of course this had had to happen, he had known that his stupid mouth would betray him if he stayed with Sophie, alone. But it was too late now and she was waiting for an answer, a faint smile on her lips, her hands still in her hair, holding it up in an as of yet untied ponytail.

“Don’t.”, he then stammered, deciding to get the words out before he might explode because of the pressure, “I’ve not seen you with your hair down before and it’s… really pretty.”

Sophie blinked up at him, her posture not changed in the least, but then she lowered her hands and her smile grew brighter as she said: “Alright then. Anything for you.”

Just like that, she tucked strands of hair behind her ears, but got to work next to him, her hair still down. She had never looked that beautiful to him. But his mind refused to process what she had said. He simply ignored it for if he did not, his thoughts would surely take and absolutely inappropriate route.

They worked in silence, surprisingly comfortable silence, loading the dishwasher in almost synchronised movements, but occasionally bumping into each other, laughing, and what dishes did not fit anymore, Steve washed and then handed them over to Sophie for towelling them dry.

All the while they were silent, but it was comfortable. Apart from the moments when Steve was staring at her and she turned her head, because he was concerned she might catch him staring. For a moment he grew bold and wondered, so what, if she caught him staring at least he would not have to explain himself to her. But as soon as she turned her head, he quickly averted his eyes, furiously scrubbing at a plate.

“Okay, out with it.”, Sophie demanded and when he stared at her, this time in shock rather than in rapture, she giggled, “What on Earth could that plate have done to you? I think you are just this far away from scrubbing through it.”

She pinched her fingers together to indicate almost no distance and Steve found himself chuckling, even though he had been caught.

“I…think I am rather mad at myself.”, he then admitted and Sophie blinked as she asked, “How so?”

“I…am not the most eloquent person. You might have caught onto that already.”, he tried to explain, but then stopped as he did not know how to proceed. But he did not need to, for Sophie spoke: “So? You don’t have to be eloquent to be someone. You don’t need to be pretty or famous. Not even intelligent. You just have to have something you’re good at and then do that. Everyone has value, you just need to find it.”

“Do you really think so?”, Steve asked as he handed her the last thing they had to wash, the spatula she had smacked Thor with, and she nodded, “Of course. Everyone is good at something. Even if it’s, oh I don’t know, selling cars or making rugs. People need cars and rugs, so they need people to make them and sell them. And that’s why…”

She stopped when Steve chuckled and he stammered: “Sorry, it’s just…”

“You already know where I was going with this.”, she smiled, “It’s okay, I am really good at babbling sometimes.”

They laughed together, but then Steve said, without thinking, but the sincerest, most heartfelt honesty: “You are also good at a lot of other things.”

“You really think so?”, Sophie asked, which made him realise that he had actually said that thought out loud. He gulped, bit is tongue and then nodded, figuring that he would not come out of this one any other way than telling her the truth: “Yeah, I do. You are…an excellent cook, for one, but you are so much more. You are smart, funny, caring. You know all of us better than we do ourselves, I guess, your insights are sometimes uncanny, really. Like that second plate of cookies. Or knowing that you could floor me a second time because I would not have expected another attack. There is so much about you that is…just stunning.”

Steve had not planned on saying any of this, but when he saw the disbelieving, almost blank expression on Sophie’s face that slowly turned into a smile, he knew that it had been right to say all of it. There was also one more thing he had to tell her: “You are a wonderful person, Sophie.”

Again, she blinked, but then she sniffled, crossed her arms for a moment before she said, her voice thick somehow: “Well, so are you.”

“Oh no.”, Steve shrugged, feeling awkward, and he turned away, his hands searching desperately for some dish to wash in order to keep them occupied, “I’m nothing special, just the super-soldier. Y’know, tall and strong, bit dumb. Nothing more.”

“That is not true!”, Sophie stated viciously and she grabbed his shoulders, turned him to face her as she told him, her gaze fixed onto his eyes, “Yeah, you are tall and strong, every idiot can see that, but you are so much more. You are caring, you are helpful, respectful. You are strong, but not just physically, no, you have lived through so much and have still come out sane, still caring, still a good man. You are strong, a fighter, but you also have a gentle soul, a righteous conscience and a brave heart made of gold.”

Never, in all his life, had he heard someone say such words about him. Him of all people.

His shock was obviously written on his face, for Sophie smiled at him and ever so gently laid her palms on his cheeks, framing his face as she told him: “Don’t you ever forget it. You are wonderful, Steve.”

One moment he gulped, disbelieving that someone could view him like that…the next moment he had snatched Sophie up in his arms and lifted her off the floor, holding her close, never wanting to let go of her again.

His heart beat too loudly in his chest, his mind was blank but for disbelief and happiness.

And then he realised what he had just done.

“I am so sorry.”, Steve stammered and quickly planted Sophie’s feet down onto the floor again, releasing her form his grip, “Forgive me, that was not…”

“Calm down.”, Sophie chuckled, her hands on his arms, as if to keep him from stepping away, “I didn’t mind. Not in the least.”

She smiled up at him and the muscles in Steve’s arms seriously tightened with the urge to hold her once again. It was a mystery to him and, without planning to do that, he mumbled the question he was asking himself: “What are you doing to me?”

“Right now I’m smiling at you.”, Sophie told him and he had to laugh with her, but then he sighed, shook his head and said, “I am sorry, I shouldn’t have… Sorry. But I can barely control myself and…”

He did not want to say anything more, but the smirk on Sophie’s lips told him what she was about to say even before she opened her mouth: “What would you do if you in fact lost control?”

He did not want to elaborate on that. But she smiled, blinked a few times and urged him on: “I’m listening.”

Her hands were still on his arms, his still on her waist and his skin felt too tight. He had to get out or he knew he would do something really, really stupid. But she was waiting and she would force him to speak his mind, he knew she would.

“I think…”, Steve began, barely able to concentrate on forming words when Sophie was looking at him like that, and he had to clear his throat to just manage to get a husky whisper out, “I think you know that.”

“I may know.”, Sophie replied and her smile grew broader, something Steve by now knew indicated mischief, “But I wanna be sure.”

He could not help but chuckle at that and so did she, stepping closer, so close their bodies already touched. Steve was sure he would lose his mind if he did not get some distance between them immediately. For some inexplicable reason, what he did instead of taking a step back was asking her in a hushed whisper: “Would it be alright if I kissed you?”

Sophie smiled at him and he had no chance but to return that smile when her hands wandered to his shoulder, then to his neck and crossed behind it before she stepped even closer and whispered, still smiling: “No.”

Steve kept smiling…until he realised what she had just said. She… had rejected him. He had not been prepared for how badly that hurt and he was completely frozen in the exact state he was in, he could not move, could not blink, barely breathe.

“It wouldn’t just be “alright”, Steve.”, Sophie murmured as her smile grew into a mischievous smirk, “I would love for you to kiss me.”

Again it took him a moment to understand her words, then he sighed and felt as if the weight of the entire Blue Ridge Mountains had just been lifted from his heart. Sophie giggled, but Steve felt his heart run a mile a second and muttered, out of breath: “Don’t scare me like that.”

“I’m sorry.”, Sophie said, genuinely sad, grimacing as she looked at him, making the best puppy-dog eyes he had ever seen anyone show, “I sometimes speak before I got time to think. I… feel terrible now, but I just… I saw that opportunity and I just had to take it, even though I knew it wouldn’t be funny. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.”, Steve said and, a bit to his surprise, felt that it was true. Sophie obviously did not believe him, for she pouted, unhappy with herself, but he chuckled and, surprising himself yet again, pulled her closer as he told her: “It is alright, I assure you. You have scared me, truly, but… that’s your humour, that’s also who you are.”

It took Steve a moment to gather the courage to say what was on his mind, and he nervously licked his lips, but then added: “And I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

Sophie laughed, obviously relieved, and he joined her at it, but then she grinned up at him and asked: “So, what’s up with my kiss now, do I get it anytime soon? Or… do I have to get it for myself?”

He could not help but grin at this, however, when they both fell silent, Steve hesitated. He wanted to kiss her so badly, but he did not…

He did not get the chance to think it over any more than he already had when Sophie got to the tips of her toes and simultaneously pulled him down to her height, giving him but the fraction of a second to process what was happening. Then he already felt her lips press against his… and the sensation almost made his heart stop. With sharp a exhale, Steve drew back, staring at Sophie, utterly unable to comprehend what he had just felt.

“Sorry…”, he muttered, but she smiled, gently stroked his cheek and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…”, Steve nodded, “Just… passing out, maybe. Otherwise I’m fine.”

Sophie smiled at him again and murmured: “You’ll have to hang on a bit longer, I’m not done with you.”

That was all the notice he got, then Sophie pulled him to her height again, but this time, Steve met her halfway. Yet he flinched when he felt her lips on his again, like a current passing through his body, contracting his muscles to hold her tighter to his chest, making his heart skip a beat just to be kick-started then.

When Sophie withdrew just the slightest bit to breathe, he held onto her, not willing to let her go. He could not let her go.

“Relax, I’m staying.”, Sophie murmured and it amazed Steve to no end that she seemed to always know what he was thinking. He would have to ask her how she did that, but for the moment, he just wanted to hold her.

“You kissed me, mister, now you’re stuck with me. I’m not running away.”, she chuckled when he even tightened his hold. With a sigh, Steve urged himself to get a grip and he slowly managed to loosen his grip on Sophie, but he kept his arms around her waist and leaned his forehead against hers and mumbled: “It’s just… I once kissed a woman dear to me and then… lost her.”

“Won’t happen with me.”, Sophie reassured him and combed his hair with her fingers, “As I said, you’re stuck with me.”

“And happy to be stuck with you.”, Steve told her, but then added, not knowing why he said it, “There are only two women I kissed before you. Well, one doesn’t count, really, but Peggy… it was hard to lose her because we never…we never even got a chance.”

“I’m sorry.”, Sophie whispered, “I know it’s not my fault, but I see how much pain you’re in. So I’m sorry.”

Steve smiled gratefully and held her closer again, hiding his face in her hair, inhaling that sweet scent. Was it shampoo? He had no idea, but he knew he loved it.

Hesitantly, he let go of Sophie, almost at least, he kept his hands on her waist, but leaned back just about far enough to be able to look at her. She was smiling, but suddenly frowned and even before he could really wonder what was going on, she had already asked him: “What do you mean, one kiss didn’t count? How can a kiss not count?”

Had he really said that? Wow, he was an idiot.

Steve tried to find words, opened his mouth and then closed it again, thinking that he would have to look like a fish on land, gasping for water. When he realised that he had really gotten himself into quite the pickle there, he grimaced and pleaded: “Don’t be mad.”

“Why would I be mad?”, Sophie smiled and Steve decided to simply blurt it out, get it over with, so he squinted his eyes shut and mumbled: “It was Natasha.”

Silence answered him and when he hesitantly looked at Sophie, he found her blinking in disbelief.

“We were trying to get away from Hydra…!”, Steve said, “There were operatives following us and Natasha thought the best way to make them look the other way would be to…”

He stopped when he saw Sophie smile in amusement.

“You’re not mad?”, he then asked and she laughed out loud, “Why would I be? What is your past is your past and yours alone. I know you’re a good man and that you wouldn’t lie to me, so you wouldn’t cheat on me either. That you even told me that you’ve kissed her, even if it was just to get away, it just proves my point. I rest my case.”

Steve had no words for how that surprised him, but he did not bother with words, instead he simply kissed her, pressing his lips to hers and her body firmly against his chest. But he pulled back with a flinch when he felt Sophie tongue caress his lips.

“I…”, he began, not wanting to insult her, but utterly shocked. And again he was surprised when Sophie smiled: “First time for that? Sorry.”

“No…”, Steve mumbled, “I mean, yes, first, but no don’t be sorry. I… I’m sorry. I am just awfully slow and…old-fashioned. Ancient even.”

“Don’t worry about that.”, Sophie told him, “It is who you are, caring, a gentleman, really old-school. I wouldn’t want you any other way, either.”

“Guess you’re the only one at that.”, Steve mused and she pecked him on his lips with a smirk, but then grew serious as she added, “So what if I am? I like you and I want you, just the way you are. And I can wait, Steve. There’s no need to rush this, we can do this at your pace. Just tell me when you’re ready.”

At that he was speechless. All he managed after stretching moments of silence was an embarrassingly hoarse croak: “Honestly?”

“Yep.”, Sophie grinned, “Just… don’t be mad if I go a bit over board and just have to hug you. I can get needy like that sometimes.”

He chuckled at that and nodded: “Sudden snuggle-attacks? I can live with that.”

“Good, ‘cause I’ll hold you to it.”, Sophie laughed and pressed a kiss to his cheek, “So, what now?”

“I don’t know.”, Steve said, a bright smile lightening up his face, “As long as I can spend some more time with you, I’m fine with just about everything.”

Sophie tightened her embrace affectionately and then suggested: “How about we cross another movie off your list? We have to work on those or else they’ll just be piling up on your head.”

“Alright, you choose.”, Steve agreed and from the way she smiled at him, he knew he would love the rest of the evening.


	8. Chapter 8

„Are you sure you are feeling up to this?“, Thor asked of Sophie, one heavy hand on her shoulder, concern in his features as he asked that question for the sixth time, having always beaten Steve to it by mere seconds. Her response would surely be the same, but this time, Tony was faster than her: “Geez, Thor, the girl’s all grown up. Plus, we won’t hurt her. Much.”

Steve rolled his eyes because he did not particularly like that joke, but Thor obviously hated it, for he glared at Tony. If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead, Steve was sure of that, but instead Tony grinned at Thor and then addressed Sophie: “You’re fine, am I right, sweetheart? You’re practically anxious to land a few blows on some of us.”

“I wouldn’t put it that way.”, Sophie replied, “But please, Uncle Thor, stop handling me with kid gloves.”

“I’m not…!”, Thor began, but then fell silent and said, “Alright, but I refuse to be part of this.”

“Come on!”, Sophie begged him and Steve did not know whether to laugh or be angry, so he settled for shaking his head in disbelief.

“Don’t worry, Thor, there’s enough of us to give her a beating.”, Clint smirked, but positively flinched when Thor rounded on him for that, “Whoa! Now, don’t try scaring me outta this. The little girl asked us to train her, so we will. ‘Kay?”

“I do not like it.”, Thor simply stated, but Sophie smiled brightly at him, pulled him down to her height to placed a sweet kiss on his cheek as she chuckled, “You don’t have to.”

Now, Steve had to laugh and she smiled at him for it. How he loved that smile. She was mischievous, a bit of a trouble-maker and her puppy-dog-eyes always allowed her to get away unscathed. But she was too kind-hearted to abuse that fact. Much…

“Fine.”, Thor then grumbled and Sophie jumped in comical, exaggerated joy that wrenched a grin from her uncle, “Give Tony a black eye and I will be proud of you.”

“Oi!”, Tony complained, especially as everyone present erupted in laughter, but then he scoffed, “I knew that would happen. That’s why I am not part of this. I am simply observing and assessing.”

“I thought that was Bruce’s job?”, Steve enquired and Doctor Banner shrugged, “It is. But it is also Tony’s equipment here, so…you try to talk him out of it.”

“Thank you, I’ll pass.”, Steve smirked, earning a grin from Bruce and another theatrical scoff from Tony, “Alright, you all have it in for me, don’t you? Now, get off your sorry asses, you landlubbers, and take your positions.”

“Yes, sir!”, Sophie sternly said, but then laughter bubbled up and Steve found himself smiling. She was like a bright ray of sunshine in his gloomy life… and he was a failed poet madly in love.

With a sigh, he gave in to the urge he had fought all day – apart from the urge to kiss her and hold her and never to let go of her again – and he walked up next to Sophie, asking her: “Are you…”

“Don’t you dare ask me if I’m really up to this, ready for this.”, Sophie interrupted him with a stern glare she then softened with a smile, “An excellent chef has been making me breakfast for weeks – you- so I have regained my lost weight, but instead of in fat like before Hydra, I have now more muscle than I’ve ever had. Natasha trained me, she said I wasn’t half bad, Clint trained with me, even Tony, but don’t you tell Thor that. And Thor practiced magic with me. I even floored you once, mister.”

“Thanks for reminding me.”, Steve mumbled and she took a hold of his arm, clinging to it and looking up at him with, he knew it, her best puppy-dog eyes.

Don’t look down, Steve chanted in his head, but alas, he could not help it.

“Sophie…”, he began, but then stopped, sighed and she giggled, knowing that she had convinced him. Well, not really, but he would not try to stop her, either. He could not even think properly when he realised that due to her clinging to his arm, his hand was close, too close to her thighs and his arm was pressed against her bosom…

“On the bright side, if I get hurt, you can nurse me back to health.”

“You are the nurse here.”, Steve countered…and then he comprehended her meaning. He cleared his throat and took a step away from her, making her smile as she clearly knew what had been going through his head. But he could not help it.

“C’mon, Cap, we don’t have all day!”, Tony scolded him and Steve, clearing his throat again, stepped aside to give Sophie room. Clint joined her in the gym, a bag of soft balls slung around his shoulder.

“Alright, Missy, we practiced this, evading projectiles.”, Clint said and she nodded, but Tony chimed in, “Stop the smalltalk, I wanna see some action!”

“Then go watch a movie.”, Sophie suggested, distracted for just a moment that Clint mercilessly used to smack a pink soft ball right onto her nose.

“Lesson one.”, he then chuckled, “Focus.”

“Alright.”, Sophie grumbled, “I deserved that.”

“Yep.”, Clint nodded and almost casually threw another ball at her, “Learn from it so you’re prepared when I get to the tennis balls at the bottom of that bag.”

Steve frowned, but kept silent as he watched Clint and Sophie. She was not bad, but some of the balls hit her. She was clearly not trained in combat, but she was catching up.

“What did I miss?”, Natasha quietly asked beside him and, frankly, startled him by it because the last thing he had known about her whereabouts was that she had been getting changed in the locker room.

“W-what do you mean?”, he asked and she scoffed, but gave him a crooked grin that told him she already knew everything anyway, “I mean you not trying to hide your making moon-eyes at her, lover-boy, and blushing so cutely because of it.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it. She knew anyway.

“So, who made the first step?”, Natasha enquired when Sophie evaded a tennis ball by a hair’s breadth and Steve kept his gaze on her, not in the least inclined to answer the question, “Oh, so you’re making use of your right to remain silent. Fine with me. I know it was her anyway.”

“It was not.”, Steve murmured before he could stop himself, but he immediately bit his tongue…too late, though, for Natasha smugly sang, “Gotcha.”

He grumbled lowly and then leaned closer to her, asking: “Don’t tell anyone, I…”

“What, you don’t want Tony to know that he has to stop the virgin-jokes?”

At that, he turned away and Natasha stared at him, not able to display her otherwise usual pokerface.

“No…”, she then whispered, “You two haven’t…?”

Steve merely glanced at her, but did not reply, instead he wished to be far away from here. But, alas, he was in the gym, watching Sophie try her best to evade the balls Clint was throwing at her. Some she evaded, some she deflected with her magic, but some she caught with her body. She winced whenever he hit her, even though Steve was sure that Clint was going easy on her. At least he hoped that he was.

“Steve…”, Natasha began, but he did not look at her. He did not know what to say.

“I’m sorry.”, she then said, utterly surprising him and as he now did turn towards her, she grinned crookedly, making him think for a moment that she had only apologised because she had known that it was the last thing he would have expected from her, but then she added, “Your secret is safe with me. Although I don’t know why you’re not up on the roof, proclaiming your catch, shouting your obvious love out to the world.”

“Believe me, I’d love to.”, Steve muttered, “But…”

“She’s not going anywhere.”, Natasha interrupted him lightly, “And I don’t think that she’ll let you go, either. So stop being so afraid, stop waiting for something that won’t come unless you make it happen.“

For that, he kept staring for what felt like an eternity and he only turned away because he heard someone stumble…Sophie. She barely caught her balance again, but a tennis ball hit her and she flinched, however, the next few she deflected, even threw one back with her magic, sending Clint scrambling out of the projectile’s path.

“Okay, last one.”, he then announced and retrieved a pink, spiky rubber ball from his satchel.

“What is it with you and pink?”, Sophie chuckled, panting, a distraction Clint once again used against her…only that he failed this time. Sophie caught the ball, maybe with magic, maybe without, then she threw it back at Clint and hit him square on the forehead.

“Hey, you weren’t supposed to fight back.”, he complained, but Sophie only stuck out her tongue to him, “Yeah, thought so.”

“Okay, Red, you’re up.”, Tony announced and while Sophie nodded at Thor and him, Natasha leaned closer to Steve and teased, “Don’t worry, I’ll try not to hurt her. She’ll be…flexible enough after this.”

He scoffed, but watched them closely as the trained. He knew that Natasha had trained her well, but Sophie was inexperienced…and Natasha was freaking dangerous. But she only attacked Sophie and waited for her counter, but if she failed, Natasha took her down and then let go of her immediately. The easy manoeuvres she countered, the harder ones she…did not.

Time and again Natasha took her down until Sophie yelled, breathless, but laughing, inexplicably: “I yield!”

“Forget it.”, Natasha said with a smirk and got up, pulling Sophie to her feet, “Get up, we start again. And this time, use your magic. In a real fight, it could very well be the edge that will keep you alive.”

“Okay.”, Sophie breathed and nodded. Not a moment later, Natasha was at her again…and the very same manoeuvre that had taken her down just moments before Sophie now easily deflected, actually knocking Natasha back a few feet.

“That was better.”, she said to her pupil, “But you can be even better still. Hit me.”

Sophie hesitated, but then attacked. Steve knew the movements and at first, he fully expected Natasha, who knew the attack better than him, to counter it, take Sophie down… but she did not. In the very moment, Natasha tried to grab her, Sophie shot a magic blow against Natasha’s ribs, catching her off-guard and taking her down.

“Don’t ever think I’d yield.”, Natasha said, lying on her back, and Sophie pulled her to her feet, “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

She was not even fully up again when Natasha attacked again, surprising Steve, but not Sophie, she magically kicked her feet out from under her while taking a step away, out of Natasha’s reach.

“Alright.”, her teacher then nodded, “Not bad for a first training.”

“Uhm, that’s my department, assessing the trainee.”, Tony called out, but Natasha snorted, “Yeah, right. Are you finished assessing the curve of her ass?”

“I…”, Tony sputtered and Steve glared at him, as did Thor and even Bruce. Tony gave up the pretence and crossed his arms in front of his chest, complaining: “Really, Romanoff, really? You had to give me away?”

“Just because the boys didn’t see what you were doing doesn’t mean I didn’t.”, Sophie smirked, “Liked the little extra sway of my hips as I took Natasha down?”

Tony stared at her, wide-eyed, but so did Steve.

“Oh please, are you easy marks.”, Natasha snorted, “You really think she had time to put on a show while fending off even my half-hearted attempts?”

“Well…”, Clint began, but Natasha cut him off, “Don’t you even think of finishing that sentence, Barton.”

He raised his hands in defence, but chuckled while he was at it.

Unexpectedly, Jarvis spoke up, addressing all of them with the information: “Your guest has just arrived.”

“Splendid, direct him here, Jar.”, Tony said and the AI replied, “He is already on his way.”

Sophie smiled and walked up to Steve, saying: “So, I’ll finally meet Sam. Can’t wait.”

“Yeah.”, Steve said, knowing full well that Sam could not wait either, as they had frequently talked on their morning runs, amongst other things also about Sophie. And Sam being the good friend he was had quickly grasped Steve’s feelings for her, but bless him, he had not rubbed it in like Natasha had.

“Are you alright?”, Sophie asked him, gently nudging his hand with hers that was too warm from the exertion of training.

“Yeah, I am.”, he said belatedly and took her hand, “But I should ask you. Are you hurt?”

“Not really.”, Sophie shrugged, “Probably be black and blue tomorrow, though.”

“So you are hurt?”, Thor interrupted and Steve, even though he did not mean to, withdrew his hand from Sophie’s in an instant. God Almighty, he was not a bashful teenage boy anymore, but for some reason he felt like one again…like the boy who was always small, sick, not worth a girl’s attention. It unnerved him greatly.

“Not really, Uncle Thor.”, Sophie said reassuringly, “Just the usual after training.”

Steve was positive she was fibbing a bit, but he did not say anything. Yet he was grateful for the distraction when Sam announced his arrival with a friendly, but loud voice: “Hey, guys! Good to see you.”

He was greeted by everyone and when it was Steve’s turn, Sam greeted him with a quick hug, then he turned to Sophie next to him: “You have to be Sophie, I guess. Hi, I’m Sam.”

“Sophie, nice to meet you.”, she said and shook his hand, “I’ve heard quite some things about you.”

“Only the good stuff, I hope.”, Sam laughed, winking at Steve, who coughed, “The best, don’t worry.”

Sam smiled and then looked around, asking: “So, as much as I enjoy seeing you all and finally meeting the lovely Sophie, care to tell me why exactly you wanted me to come over?”

“Oh, right.”, Tony spoke up and made his way next to Sam, “You, buddy, are here as the surprise guest.”

“How so?”, Sam frowned and that was when it dawned upon Steve, “You’re not planning on…”

“If you think that I want your friend here to train with the girl, yeah, that’s exactly what I’m planning.”

“Training?”, Sam asked, frowning again, but then he shrugged, “Heck, why not? If you’re alright with it, that is of course.”

“Sure.”, Sophie nodded and Tony clapped Steve’s shoulder, “See? The girl has more balls than you do.”

He decided not to comment on that and was thankful when Bruce spoke up: “Actually, I thought it would be good for Sophie’s training to face someone whose technique she doesn’t know as well as Natasha’s and Clint’s who have been training with her.”

“Yeah, sure, that’s genius.”, Tony said, waving it off, “Could’ve been my idea.”

“Actually, it really is a good idea.”, Clint nodded, “Nice one, Bruce.”

“Thanks.”, he merely muttered, but Sophie smiled at him, a smile he hesitatingly returned, then she addressed Sam, “Shall we?”

“Sure.”, he nodded and Sophie was already on her way to the middle of the gym. Steve reached for Sam’s arm, just as Thor made a move to step into his way, and from the look on the Asgardian’s face Steve knew that their intention was the same, they both wanted to tell Sam to take it easy. Faced with both of them, Sam smiled nervously, clearly not knowing what he had gotten himself into to deserve this. However, before either of them could open his mouth to tell Sam not to hurt Sophie, she cheerfully piped up: “Let the man go…or there won’t be any pop tarts left, Uncle Thor. And Steve, I will find something to hurt you with.”

“Uh, snap.”, Sam chuckled as they both instantly cleared his way and Steve heard him say to Sophie, “Ain’t they under your thumb…”

Sophie smirked, but said nothing and Steve was grateful…somehow. On the other hand, he kind of feared for his heart because he knew that if they would come closer to each other, like…intimately close…she would be a terrible tease and probably give him a heart-attack. But, truth be told, it only fascinated him even more.

As he had to admit, however, when Sam and Sophie began their training, seeing her so close to another man he did definitely not like, even if he trusted said man not to try anything funny.

So he stood there, arms crossed and eyes narrowed, closely watching Sam and Sophie exchanging punches. Steve noticed that Sam was in fact holding back and he was grateful for it.

When Sam fell for an obvious feint, Steve was not sure if his friend had not seen it coming or had allowed Sophie to grab a hold of his arm and throw him over her shoulder. As he was lying there, Sophie planted her foot on his chest and spoke lightly: “Alright, buddy, we can beat about the bush like that, you aiming your punches above my head or beside my body and then falling for my stupidest tricks, or we could train for real. I’m not as frail as I look and I have a trick up my sleeve. So, what will it be?”

Sam, baffled like the rest of them apart from Natasha who was grinning, thought for a moment, then he nodded: “Training sounds good.”

“Good.”, Sophie said and just as she wanted to add something, Sam kicked her feet out from under her, making her land flat on her back while he rolled to her side and pinned her to the floor.

“You asked for it.”, he then grinned and Sophie laughed, “Yeah, I kinda did. Alright, fresh start?”

“Totally.”, Sam said and got up, offered his hand to help her to her feet, but when Sophie took it, he aimed another kick for her feet. She, however, let herself fall back, pulling Sam with her and planting her feet in his stomach, she threw him over her body.

“Wow, I deserved that.”, he stated as he got up and Sophie smirked, “A bit, yeah.”

“Okay, baby-girl, now for real.”, Sam nodded at her and they simultaneously attacked each other. Steve was impressed by their movements, glad that his friend got along so well with the girl he had fallen in love with… and, in the back of his head, concerned whether they were not getting along a bit too well. He was jealous for no reason and he did not particularly like the feeling.

Yet it even intensified when Sam evaded a punch of Sophie’s and used the time her momentum gave him to step behind her, wrapping his arms around her torso and holding her in a tight, incapacitating grip.

“What’re you gonna do now?”, he asked her, his mouth close to her ear, both of them panting and Steve felt a growl trying to erupt from his throat.

“Just you watch.”, Sophie shot back and she obviously used her magic, for Sam’s arms were wrenched from her, then her elbow in his ribs made him stumble backwards and another blow of magical energy knocked him to the floor. In a second, Sophie was over him, her knee on his chest and she said: “If I was out to kill you, I might have succeeded with that move.”

“You might’ve had at that.”, Sam nodded and they both laughed, then Sophie got up and pulled him to his feet while he added, “You’re really not bad for just having started training.”

“Thanks.”, she replied, but Sam shrugged, “Guess you’re a natural.”

“Yeah, maybe.”, Tony called out to them, “Let’s take that statement to the test and see how she’ll fare against Captain America.”

“I beg your pardon?”, Steve said as he turned around to Tony and that was when he saw the smug grin on his face. Tony knew. For some reason, he knew and he was hell-bent on either embarrassing Steve or making him feel as bad as he possibly could.

Even worse, Sophie did not see it, for she said: “Yeah, why not? Come on, Steve!”

In an afterthought, she added: “As long as you promise to fight with not even half your ability.”

“This… isn’t a good idea.”, Steve weakly stated, but Natasha shrugged, “You do have another style of fighting. I think it would be beneficial.”

The glare he gave her for that clearly spelled out “traitor!” in gigantic letters, but she affirmed: “I mean it, Steve. Sophie could learn a great deal just by watching you fight.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, not sure whether or not he had missed some hidden innuendo in there, but then he sighed in defeat and nodded: “Alright.”

“Good.”, Sophie said, “But please, go easy.”

“Of course.”, he assured her, even though he figured that by now even Clint and Bruce would know about his feelings at the latest. He just hoped Thor would not know that quickly…

He took a stance across from Sophie and waited until she nodded at him, confirming that she was ready. Steve still was absolutely not comfortable with this, but yet he attacked her…keeping his left hand behind his back and only using his right.

“Come on!”, Tony shouted, “You can’t be serious!”

Steve ignored him. With good cause, for Sophie had a hard time blocking his attacks as it was. She used her magic and Steve felt it as hard blows, but they did not knock him aside. Once he was forced to take a step back, but he still managed to land a blow, however, he always slowed down so he merely touched Sophie, but never hit her.

She hissed in frustration he could understand, so he told her: “You have fought for a long time by now, you’re exhausted.”

“I can go on.”, she panted and that ragged breath alone told him that in fact she could not.

From the corner of his eye he saw Thor watch them closely, probably ready to step in any second and Steve would not blame him. As a sign of good will, he switched hands so that he was only fighting with his left. Sophie obviously did not like it for she frowned, but Thor stepped back, assuaged.

With every punch Steve threw at her and stopped just before hurting her, he saw that Sophie was getting too tired to fight and just when he was about to suggest they should stop, she stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.

“Sophie?”, he asked in concern, completely forgetting the training fight and he knelt beside her, tried to check her for bruises…when her form vanished before his eyes.

Dumb-founded, Steve stared at the now empty floor.

A surprised gasp from the others was the only warning he received before something hit him in the chest…a kick, magically enhanced judging from the pain he felt. The blow knocked him back, flat on his back and pressure was applied to his sternum. He saw Sophie kneel on his chest, pinning him down, one hand on his throat.

“Got you.”, she smiled, but he could do nothing but stare at her and she held his gaze. When loud clapping disrupted that strangest of moments, Sophie got up and went over to her uncle who was clapping, that was what Steve saw when he sat up and looked to the side, still in disbelief.

She had tricked him. For some reason, it hurt. It felt like betrayal.

Steve told himself that it had merely been a training fight, but still… it felt like betrayal and that hurt more than he cared to admit.

“You alright, buddy?”, Sam asked him and offered his hand to pull Steve up, but he got up without help and stood there still dumb-founded.

“Hey, c’mon, what’s wrong?”, Sam asked, but from the side, Steve saw Tony clap Sophie’s shoulder while he said, “Nice trick. Worthy of your old man.”

For some reason Steve did not want to inspect more closely, rage bubbled up in him as he heard that and he mumbled absently: “I’m…gonna go take a shower.”

With that, he fled the scene even thought Sam tried to hold him back, but he could not flee his thoughts, his feelings. What Sophie had done felt like betrayal any way he turned it. It was stupid to think that, but he could not help it and that only enraged him even more.

The hot water did nothing to calm him down, but he stayed in the shower, contemplating getting out for the first them when his skin felt raw from the hot water and the scrubbing with soap.

“Steve!”, an urgent call reached him and with the echo in the locker room, it took him a moment to realise it was Natasha calling out, “If you don’t answer, I’ll come looking. And if you’re not out of that shower within the next five minutes, I’m gonna drag you outta there, naked or not, I don’t care.”

The shower had not calmed him down and that threat had only fanned his anger again.

“Steve, I’m warning you.”, Natasha shouted and he replied with a groan, “Alright.”

“Oh, so you’re alive after all.”, she muttered and then added, “Get your wounded ass out of here, everybody’s long gone.”

“Alright.”, he said once again, but just like before he did not mean it. That everyone was gone merely meant that he would have to postpone meeting them…and explaining himself to them. Which was something he had absolutely no intention of doing. Half of them had probably guessed his reason by now anyway…and that did not make the prospect any better.

With a sigh, he switched off the water and quickly got dried up and dressed, wincing time and again as he had to admit that the water really had been too hot. Funny, he had not realised that.

The room was all steamed up and he could barely see a thing, let alone find the clothes he had put out, but he somehow managed to find the jeans, t-shirt, socks and shoes he had left. He groaned when he felt the damp cloth cling uncomfortably to his skin.

He shrugged and left, prepared to go up to his room… and mope, probably. It was not a plan worthy of “The Man with a Plan”, but it was all he got.

When he left the locker room, however, he stopped dead in his tracks. There was Sophie, sitting on the floor as if waiting for something and from the way she jumped to her feet as soon as she spotted him, worry in her eyes, it seemed she had been waiting for him.

“I…I’m here to apologise.”, she began and Steve looked away, muttering, “No need.”

“You’re saying that, but I doubt you mean it.”, she said and took a step closer. He realised that her hair was damp, but it was not from having taken a shower like he had, but still from training. Had she waited out here for him for all this time?

Sophie sighed, a sound that carried genuine sadness and so Steve looked at her, put up a smile that felt horrible, but he put all the honesty he could muster into his voice when he said: “I am not angry, there is no need to apologise. It was only training, we fought, you used your abilities, all’s right.”

Sophie grimaced and bit her lip, clearly unconvinced and unhappy… and something in Steve gave way.

“Alright, I…I am angry, somewhat.”, he then admitted and Sophie said, “I know. And I am sorry.”

Steve shook his head, unsure what it was that he wanted to hear now, but apparently Sophie had an idea, for when he turned away, she followed him, actually blocked his way and said miserably: “You know, Tony is right. I am like my father.”

Dead centre.

Steve gulped uncomfortably and Sophie nodded, she had known that he had been angry because of this and she added: “At least when it comes to fighting, I am like my father, because everything I have learned about fighting and magic, I have learned from him. Until I came to you, the Avengers, because you, Steve, rescued me from that Hydra base. I haven’t had much time to learn something new and he has taught me quite well considering that I’ve been merely a child when he’s been training me. I hate to say it, but it’s all I know, I fight a bit like my father because he trained me. I’m sorry.”

Steve tried to say something, but he could not, he was too confused still.

“Steve.”, Sophie quietly spoke and she tenderly took his hands into hers, cautiously as if she expected him to withdraw any moment, but instead he felt himself compelled to look into her eyes. She smiled bitterly and then told him: “My father taught me to exploit each and every weakness I could find in my opponent…and your weakness is that you care so much. I knew that you would drop the fight as soon as you thought I might be hurt and I also knew that it was my only chance to get the better of you, even though you weren’t even fighting at half your ability. I knew that weakness and I exploited it, just like I was taught to by my father… but I feel terrible because of it.”

With a sigh, Steve wordlessly pulled her into his arms and when her head was comfortably nuzzled under his chin, he mumbled into her hair: “It’s not your fault. I am not angry, not really…well, a bit, but not… not so much with you. I don’t know. It’s just…I thought you were hurt and I was concerned, I thought it was my fault. You frightened me.”

Sophie chuckled bitterly and leaned away from him so that she could look up at him as she said: “You care so much.”

“Yeah, I know, it’s a weakness. Get in line telling me that, Natasha was first, though.”

Sophie giggled for a moment, but then gently touched his cheek and said: “My father would have thought it a weakness, a chink in your armour. You have a kind heart, Steve, and it’s only one of many things that make me love you.”

Silence followed those words and they both stared at each other as if they both could not believe that these had just been said.

“Did you…?”, Steve mumbled, “Did my ears deceive me or…?”

“Telling from that smile that’s trying to get out, I think you heard me. Last time I checked, you had ears.”

Now said smile really did come out and Steve brushed a strand of hair behind Sophie’s ear, saying: “Now, you got ears too, so listen up, darling. You are mischievous, you undoubtedly got that from your father…or possibly also your mother, she’s really one of a kind. What I’m trying to say is – I’m not good at this, forgive me – you are cheeky, but it is something I like about you. And for all the mischief in your pretty little head, you too have a kind heart, otherwise you wouldn’t have felt so bad for something that felt so natural to you. And this curious combination is…only part of why I have fallen for you. I cannot even explain it all and as I’m not the eloquent sort, I’m gonna stop trying and embarrassing myself now.”

Sophie laughed at that and said: “You weren’t embarrassing yourself, I think you were doing quite well.”

“Maybe, but…I’d prefer it if I didn’t have to tell you all that…in words, at least.”

“Then find another way.”, Sophie suggested in a low whisper and Steve did not waste another second, he pressed his lips to Sophie’s in a kiss he meant to be sweet and gentle…but she wrapped her arms around his neck and turned the caress into something… else entirely, something that meant much more.

All conscious thought left him, he merely reacted, did what felt right, and that was to pull her as close as he could.

“Forgive me for the interruption.”, Jarvis suddenly spoke up and Steve almost jumped back two feet, but Sophie grumbled, “Really, Jarvis, why are you doing that? Are you my chaperon now?”

“Not necessarily, Miss Blake, but I thought you might want to know that your uncle is headed this way.”

“Oh…”, Sophie mumbled, “Thanks, buddy. I owe you one.”

“By no means, Miss Blake.”, the AI replied and when Sophie turned to Steve, who was blushing fiercely, she giggled…and mischievously said, “My shower is overdue. See ya later!”

With that, she was gone and Steve was left to stare at the door that had fallen shut behind her. She had left him here to deal with Thor on his own.

“Ah, Steve!”, the cheerful, booming voice of Thor reached him, “Have you seen my niece?”

Steve was about to ask “Why would I?”, but he thought better of it and replied truthfully, “We talked, just now, and she is in the locker room now, taking a shower.”

He should not have said that, he realised that much when his mind conjured up images that were absolutely inappropriate, they had to be inappropriate even in this outspoken time of the 21st century.

“Oh, well, thank you.”, Thor said and clapped him on the shoulder, almost propelling Steve forward, “It has been quite some time since last we had the freedom to talk between missions. Come on, my friend, join my for a cup of this delicious treat you call coffee.”

“Sure.”, Steve found himself smiling. Anything to take his minds off the thoughts of Sophie in the shower.


	9. Chapter 9

“You can’t be serious.”, Sophie stated, her voice level, but Steve shrugged unforgiving, “You see me smiling?”

“I think there’s a smile trying to get out.”, she joked and Steve had to bite his tongue so as not to actually smile, but he was grateful when Sophie gave up with a groan. He would not have been able to keep that pretence up much longer.

“Steve, it’s late and I really can’t train today.”, she then complained, “My muscles are still sore from two days ago. Remember, you were there?”

“I remember.”, he said, trying hard to keep a straight face. Ever since the training fight, they had made it a habit to train together and he had had to admit that Natasha had been right, once again, for Sophie had learned a lot from going up against him in their little arena of the gym. She had gotten much better and fast, even though he still fought with only half his ability. However, her muscles were not used to such abuse and accordingly, they were aching.

Something Sophie reminded him of whenever he threatened to have forgotten: “I can barely climb the stairs.”

“There’s an elevator for that. Problem solved.”, Steve said, for he had to push her, so he asked at her grimace of insult, “Oh sorry, did you think that Hydra operatives would say “Sorry, Miss, I can see you’re indisposed today. Let me come back next week to finish the job.”, huh?”

“You can be really mean.”, Sophie stated with narrowed eyes and then grinned, “I kinda like that.”

“Don’t go there.”, Steve asked of her, his voice barely above a feral growl. Not because he was angry, but because he was barely able to get a grip… and kissing her here, practically out in the open, would not be wise… one thing would lead to another and…

No, he forbade his thoughts to go there. For if he allowed himself to think about it in Sophie’s presence, for once she would immediately know from his blush and also he would in fact lose control.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice asked him why on Earth it would be so bad to lose control, to ask her to his bed… but he shut that voice out immediately. And in order to also shut out Sophie’s unvoiced hints, the subtle sway of her hips, the slow smiles, everything that made him almost mad when he lay awake in bed, alone, every night, he had to thoroughly wear her out. And not by what his mind was mostly occupied with, as…was another region of his body.

Instead he focused on training and so he told her: “Thirty laps in the gym, then we fight.”

“Thirty?”, Sophie asked, disbelieving, but when he curtly nodded, she saluted mockingly and said harshly, “Yes, Captain, sir.”

“Go.”, he growled and she stormed away laughing, knowing that he would chase after her. Steve soon passed her and ran at his own speed, leaving her to do her laps. It also helped numb his mind, full of desire, to wear himself out. It just took a lot longer than wearing Sophie out.

“Okay, I’m done.”, Sophie panted, jogging to the middle of the gym and Steve noticed that she was not as tired as she had been the first few times they had done that routine. She was getting better and fast. Surprisingly so, but he did not comment on it, merely joined her in the middle of the gym and asked of her: “You remember the manoeuvres?”

“Come at me and find out.”, Sophie teased him and he could not help it, he attacked her without much thought. It was… fun. That thought was a trifle unsettling, but he did not think about that when they went through the familiar routine. Upper cross, she blocked it, following kick, she evaded it. She spun around, threw a blast of magic at him, he braced himself against it, but he had to admit that it had grown stronger since their last training session. Yet he stood his ground and when Sophie aimed a kick at his head, as was their sequence, he blocked it, threw her back, she caught her balance again and aimed a kick at his knees. A sidestep saved him from a bruise, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the side, she stumbled, as she mostly did at this part, but then caught her balance once again, kicked at his foot, hit home and as soon as Steve had let go of her, she let loose a blast of magic against his chest. And that blast threw him a few feet back.

It had never done that before.

From surprise and sudden fatigue both, Steve went to one knee and stared up at Sophie. She stared back at him and for a moment, there was only silence, then she was in front of him, fell to her knees and cupped his face in her hands, asking: “Are you okay? Steve, are you okay?”

“Yeah.”, he nodded, “But I think… I think you tapped into my strength again.”

“I’m so sorry.”, Sophie said, but he shook his head, “Don’t be. It could be extremely useful.”

“For that I’d have to get some control over it, though.”, Sophie unhappily grumbled, but Steve smiled, “You’ll get the hang of it, eventually. As will I, hopefully, so that I know what to expect from it.”

“I think there was something in the books Thor has given me…I’ll have to check.”, Sophie mumbled and he nodded, “Do that. Later, though. Now we continue training.”

“In a sec.”, Sophie whispered and pressed her lips to his. Just for a moment, only sweetly, almost innocently… but the needy groan that escaped Steve’s throat betrayed him and he could not take it back. When he saw her smile, he did not want to, either.

But he nevertheless jumped to his feet and said hastily: “Let’s try something new.”

“Oh? That should be interesting.”, Sophie smirked and he had a pretty good idea what she was thinking about, so he narrowed his eyes at her, scolding, and then told her, “Freestyle. No sequence, just a plain fight.”

“With only half your ability, I hope?”, she smiled warily and he nodded, “Unless you tap into my strength again, then I’m afraid I’ll have to, so to speak, bring out the heavy artillery.”

“Wonder what that could be.”, Sophie jested, meaningfully dropping her gaze to his middle for a moment, and Steve coughed, feeling a blush creep up his neck, heating his face. Judging from Sophie’s smirk, that had been exactly her plan and with a deep breath, Steve warned her: “That’s your last notice. Get ready.”

Again she flashed him a grin, but he ignored it to the best of his ability and then attacked her. Too late he realised what a fool he was for doing that.

Her magic hit him square in the chest, driving him back several feet before he managed to fight against it, putting all his strength against it. Strength Sophie was diminishing. For lack of an alternative, Steve stepped aside, curious whether that would take the pressure of him and as it did, he stumbled forward, unintentionally tackling Sophie and pushing her to the ground with him, landing on top of her.

“Oh, now that’s promising.”, Sophie murmured and Steve was unable to move. He was mortified… but also very much aroused. Sophie panting under him, her cheeks flushed, her chest heaving and thereby pressing against his, her body touching his as if they had been moulded to fight together perfectly, that was more than he could take.

“Don’t you dare fight that.”, Sophie whispered and once again, she hit dead centre.

“How is it that you know me so well?”, Steve mumbled, his voice hoarse, his throat dry and she chuckled, “You are not that complicated. And you wear your heart on your sleeve. Anyone who pays attention could see it.”

He gulped, unsure what to make of that, but Sophie smiled up at him, slowly, sensually bucking her hips up against his, making him barely stifle a groan with it and then she said: “Now stop thinking and kiss me.”

With the last thread of self-control Steve could find somewhere in his mushy brain, he breathed: “Not here.”

He tried to get up, get away, but Sophie closed her arms around his neck, hooked her legs into his and said: “When I let you go now, you’ll flee. Like you’ve fled that last couple of days. Why would I let this happen?”

Steve spoke without allowing himself time to think, so he spoke what his heart told him to say: “Because tonight I’ll be yours.”

Sophie blinked at him and with a hesitant smile he added: “And only yours. Anybody could come in here… I don’t want that.”

“Okay.”, she smiled and let go of him. Steve got to his feet, then grasped her hands to help her up and when she was in his arms again, he admitted with a crooked smile: “Call me selfish, but I want you for myself.”

“Then just don’t run away.”, Sophie told him and he shook his head, “I won’t. Not tonight. Not again.”

“Good.”, she fiercely said and pressed a kiss to his lips, a forceful, possessive kiss that left him breathless. She then walked away, calling over her shoulder: “I’ll take a shower. Feel free to join me.”

He almost choked on that and was left in the gym, wanting more, aching for her… but first, he too had to shower. Cold. Like ice-cold, like almost freezing for 70 years again.

Okay, maybe not that cold, he did not wish to keep Sophie waiting any longer and neither did he wish to wait, so he made his way to the men’s locker room, shaking his head and wondering why on Earth he had avoided being closer to her. As soon as he had gotten rid of his shirt, he knew again. The mere thought that she would take his shirt off his body, undress him…

Steve quickly stepped into the shower and switched on the water, cold. It hit him full blast and icy cold, however, it did not help. He felt his skin contract to protect him against the cold, but it could not cool down his thoughts.

“This is… torture.”, he muttered to himself, knowing full well that avoiding close contact and time alone with Sophie had only made this harder. Not only the situation, he thought whimsically, feeling ashamed for the thought as soon as it had crossed his mind. So he furiously washed off the sweat of training, but he could not get those thoughts out of his head. He had to in order not to completely lose what was left of his control, but apparently, his mind did not concur, for it wandered off with his imagination, happily picturing Sophie in the shower.

A quiet sound made him look up and he expected Sophie to stand there, to join him in the shower. Nothing, though.

Alright, maybe he had already gone crazy. But he had waited long enough, too long, actually, no wonder his mind was playing tricks on him.

With a harsh breath, Steve cut off the freezing-cold water and stepped out of the shower, quickly dried off and got dressed. When he exited the locker room, there was no sign of Sophie, but he heard the shower still running. That was bad. Steve knew his imagination would run wild and when it did, right on cue, the more he tried to keep it in check, the wilder it got.

He could not stop thinking about her. If she had not been such a lovely girl, he would have suspected a spell, probably, but there was not a shred of doubt left in his heart. About her intentions, anyway, Steve was truly convinced that Sophie was with him because she loved him… he just could not understand why, for the life of him he could not comprehend that.

And what he did doubt above all else were his own actions. What should he do? What would she expect? He had no idea what to do.

Alright, so yeah, he knew the basics, but only…from theory.

Nervousness gripped him again and he knew now better than ever why he had tried to keep Sophie at arm’s length. He knew very well it was stupid, had always been, but he really had no idea how…

He almost flinched when the door opened and Sophie stepped out of the girls’ locker room. Her hair was still damp, dishevelled and down, curls forming at its tips, curling against her shoulders that were in a tight tank top…too tight for his liking. But then again, it was just about perfect.

“You really are still here.”, Sophie mused and took his hands in hers, “I half expected you to be on your way to the Canadian border by now.”

“N-no.”, Steve stammered, not trusting his voice with more. Oh boy, he could not even look her in the eye. But when he dropped his gaze, he was looking at her bosom… that did not help much, either.

Sophie giggled and when he glanced at her, already feeling a blush heating his face, she cupped one of his cheeks in her palm and said with a warm grin: “Steve, honey, you’re overthinking this.”

“But…?”, he mumbled, however, Sophie cut him off gently, “It is important, yes. Believe it or not, but I don’t do that kind of thing lightly. But it’s not about thinking.”

“I never thought…”, he tried to tell her that he had not considered her to be a lady of easy virtue, that his thoughts had been far, far away from that perception, but the smile she gave him told Steve that she already knew that. It was uncanny how much she just knew.

Sophie lay her hand flat on his chest, directly over where his heart was beating for all its worth, then, with a smile, she pulled his hand to her chest, making him feel her heartbeat as well, even though – considering where his hand was - Steve had a hard time feeling her heartbeat through the mad rushing of his own pulse. And with a soft, kind smile, Sophie told him: “It’s about feeling. About emotions. Love.”

“I know…”, he said, but then gulped, for how to finish that sentence eluded him. He knew it was about emotion, but other than that…?

“Stop thinking so much.”, Sophie chuckled and took his hand in hers, pulling him behind her on her way to the elevator. They both stayed silent during the ride, but whenever Steve glanced at her, Sophie was smiling. She was giving him time, but unfortunately he used that time to think…however, he did not come up with anything.

“Jarvis?”, Sophie spoke as the doors slid open, “Could you give us some privacy?”

“Certainly.”, the AI replied, “I will make sure your night will not be disturbed.”

“Thanks.”, Sophie smiled at the ceiling and then at Steve, but he found himself frowning.

“Oh, c’mon.”, she chuckled, “We wouldn’t be able to keep that from Jarvis anyway. That way we can at least make sure Tony won’t barge in.”

“That thought is…unsettling.”, Steve muttered under his breath and she laughed before she said, serious again, as they reached the door to his room, “What did I tell you? Don’t think so much about it. Feel. Do what feels right, not what you may think could be appropriate. Just…feel and do. Don’t think.”

Steve opened his mouth to tell her that this would by no means be easy for him, but she stopped him with a gesture and smiled: “Don’t argue, either. This isn’t about right or wrong, appropriate or rude. It’s about you and me. Simple as that. You and me.”

Steve took a deep breath. He believed her, he knew it to be true, but it did not tell him what to do. Sophie rolled her eyes at him, smiling and then she teased: “Once we’re through that door, I guess I’ll just have to make it impossible for you to think.”

She did not give him the time to wonder what exactly she meant by that, instead Sophie pushed the door to his room open and walked in, pulling him in behind her.

Automatically, Steve reached for the light switch, but Sophie caught his hand and pushed him back against the door. She followed instantly, pressing her body against his and when she got to the tips of her toes to kiss him, he had expected her kiss, but he had not been prepared for it. Out of instinct, his arms closed around her, pulled her close and Steve felt her grin into the kiss, followed by a quiet moan.

He loosened his tight hold and Sophie sighed.

“For a moment there I knew you weren’t thinking.”, she mumbled and he replied, “I thought…”

“Yes, exactly.”, she cut him off smiling and he laughed at it, at his own helplessness, and to his great relief, Sophie laughed with him.

“I’m all thumbs with this. I was afraid I’d be holding you too tightly. That I was hurting you.”, Steve told her with a sigh and she smiled up at him, “Don’t worry about that, I’d have told you. But you didn’t. Now, come on.”

Sophie was walking backwards, glancing over her shoulders to find the way, but even though Steve had an idea of where she was headed, he did not guide their way. His heart and head both were way too preoccupied with what was about to happen.

Once she had found his bedroom, Sophie smiled happily and kicked off her shoes, then she quickly pecked him on his cheek and before Steve could even try to grasp her, she had danced away from his grip and laid down on his bed.

“I like that sight.”, he thought and belatedly realised that he had actually said it out loud.

“Good.”, Sophie smiled, “But trust me, it’s even better from up close.”

“Oh, I bet.”, he replied and got rid of his shoes, then joined her. Well, he got on the bed, but he was lying there, stiff as a board, unsure what to do. He knew what he wanted, but…

“Don’t think.”, Sophie repeated, “Feel. Do.”

Once again he wondered how on Earth she could know so much about him. No one had ever known him that well. But instead of voicing that question, Steve slowly extended his hand, reaching for Sophie’s face. God Almighty, his hand was trembling. A part of him found that incredibly pathetic, but most of him just wanted to touch her.

When he finally did, Steve gently brushed a lock of her hair out of her face and Sophie smiled, mirroring his gesture and for a moment, Steve closed his eyes, drank in the feeling.

“There’s more.”, Sophie murmured and he grinned, but when she moved her hand down his jaw line, over his neck and down his chest until it rested on his side, Steve felt his muscles ripple under her touch. He did not dare mirror that path, so instead he let his fingers wander over Sophie’s cheek, down her neck, over her shoulder and down her arm until he clasped his hand around it, just above her bent elbow. Sophie then moved her hand again and her fingers brushed against the back of his arm, making him shiver with a mixture of pleasure… and feeling tickled.

She chuckled at it, but then ran her hand over his chest, down his stomach until it rested on his thigh. Again, Steve did not dare mirror that path, so instead he drew a line down her side to her hips, but then let his hand brush upwards over her back, fanning his fingers out to touch her. Sophie closed her eyes with a quiet sound that was almost a feline purr and Steve thought that he must have done something right, so he kept doing it. He ran his hand up and down her back, grew a bit bolder as with every time his hand travelled down her back, it went a bit further until it was almost on her thigh. But he did not linger there, instead let his hand stroke up again over her hips, to her back… and his fingers unintentionally sneaked under her top. Feeling her bare skin was almost like a shock for both of them, for Sophie’s eyes flew open and they stared at each other.

Until they both snapped into action at the very same moment.

Steve pulled Sophie close to his chest in the very same moment in which she turned on her back, pulling him with her in the turn, so that he was actually half on top of her when their lips met. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Steve thought that he was too heavy for her, but it was not important. What was important was Sophie’s quiet moan she let him hear when his tongue nudged hers, her heartbeat thumping against his chest as if her heart wanted to touch his, his hand on her back…and her hand pulling his T-shirt away.

It was a nuisance anyway and they had to part in order to discard the piece of clothing and then again to get rid of Sophie’s tank top. As soon as it was out of the way, Steve could no longer suppress a groan from the bottom of his heart for he finally, finally felt her skin against his. He wanted more. Much more.

Whether it was his movement or hers, Steve did not know and neither did he care, but somehow he was nestled between Sophie’s legs and when she bucked her hips against his, pressing her middle against his still clothed, but aching hardness, he actually thought he was seeing stars. His whole body tense, he thought his heart had skipped a beat. He felt as if he had been unconscious for a second, maybe more, and when he looked into Sophie’s eyes again, saw her head cocked in curiosity, he realised what had happened.

The realisation hit him with more force than he had ever felt. He had just experienced the height of lust, for the first time due to someone else… but he had left the lady behind.

“Oh…”, was all he managed to say and that barely. Burning up in shame, Steve scrambled away from Sophie, mumbling unintelligibly, trying to find the appropriate words for an apology.

But before he could even try, Sophie sat up as well, framed his face in her hands and kissed him.

“B-but…?”, he mumbled and saw her smiling, “Overthinking it, honey.”

He stared at her, tried to think of something to say and only came up with: “But…?”

She giggled lightly, pecked his lips again and mumbled against them: “Do you have any idea what sort of a compliment that is?”

“It…is?”, Steve muttered and she nodded, “Captain America trembling helplessly in my hands? Like hell that’s a compliment.”

At first he wanted to disagree, but then thought better of it and Sophie smiled, probably knowing the exact words that had gone through his thick head, and then she said quietly: “Allow me.”

He had no idea what she wanted to do, but he nodded anyway for he knew he would put his life in her hands. Sophie smiled at him and with her hands on his chest she gently pushed him down onto the bed, onto his back, she then grasped his hands and guided them over his head to the headboard of the bed. She reached for something to her left, something he did not understand and it took him a while to comprehend her intention. He only did when Sophie tied the woollen scarf around his wrists and to the headboard.

Yet before he could ask why, she put a finger to his lips and then kissed them, innocently, before she told him: “Don’t worry. You said you’re all thumbs, so I’m taking control, but just tell me to and I will release you. Don’t worry, don’t think. Just feel.”

When she said that, Sophie placed a lingering kiss to his sternum, making his heart gallop away. Her hands wandered down his arms and when her fingers brushed over the backs of his arms again, Steve shivered. Her smile told him she had hoped for that so he was not surprised when Sophie next placed a kiss on his triceps, but the feeling of it did surprise him very much. He groaned, balled his fists as he wanted to grab Sophie but could not, so instead he bucked his hips, hoping to feel her again, knowing that he would not as she was kneeling beside him on the bed.

He felt her weight shift and then felt her straddle his hips and his eyes flew open, staring at her. At her bare chest. At her bare form, in fact.

Suddenly his mouth was dry and Sophie smiled at him, placed her hands over his wildly beating heart and then leaned in to kiss him. Much too soon she left his lips again and Steve stretched, tried to prolong the caress, but Sophie evaded his mouth with a chuckle and instead placed a kiss onto his forehead, her bare chest so close to his face he felt her warmth radiating off her skin. Her next kiss was placed onto his throat, making him gulp, then Sophie traced a trail down his chest, a detour to the side and he hissed when she licked over his nipple, but it turned into a helpless moan when her kisses touched his side, the feeling between pleasure and tickling again, but oh so sweet.

Sophie’s hands brushed down his sides and her lips followed the direction, her tongue dipped into his navel, making him buck upward involuntarily.

“Patience.”, she smugly told him and while he was still staring at her, tried desperately to find some sort of reply, she unbuttoned his jeans, smiling, “Now lift your hips again, would you?”

Now he felt really tongue-tied and judging from her smile, Sophie relished that: “No? Hmm, I guess I’ll have to make you.”

Without another word, her hand cupped the bulge in his jeans, applying pressure that made his heart race, his muscles clench.

“There you go.”, Sophie chuckled and he realised that he had in fact done as he had been told, allowing Sophie to pull down his pants, “You certainly are good at following orders.”

Quiet laughter erupted from Steve’s throat for it seemed absurd, he was certainly not good at following orders, having disobeyed them often enough. But it was of no importance anymore when Sophie had removed his jeans and socks and, with a smile on her face, slowly pulled down his boxers.

Shivering, Steve closed his eyes. He had never felt so vulnerable, so… naked. His heart was beating too fast, too hard and he was utterly convinced that one word, one harsh word from Sophie would be enough to shatter it. But she stayed silent and that unnerved him more than he was willing to admit.

Slowly, insecurely, he opened his eyes again…and he saw Sophie licking her lips, her gaze on his middle. He winced, but then realised the look on her face, the smile on her lips. It was… awe?

“Have I…”, Sophie said huskily, then cleared her throat, met his gaze and smiled, “Have I ever told you that you are… impressive?”

“Bound and unable to do anything?”, Steve countered, making her giggle just as he had hoped. But her amusement quieted down and when she looked at him again, there was something in her eyes he had not seen before, at least not like this. Hunger.

“Oh, you can do something, alright.”, she murmured and leaned in to him, “Kiss me.”

Gladly he did, but when he felt her unclothed middle straddling him, Steve could not fight the groan that erupted from him. Neither did he even try.

Sophie chuckled lightly and deepened the kiss, pushing her tongue deep into his mouth, actually pushing his head back as she did and her hands, framing his face, wandered over his chest again, then to his triceps and he moaned, had to lean away go breathe, but he could hardly move. Sophie kissed him firmly, ignored his panting, but then kissed a path down his cheek, over his throat, his Adam’s apple, and without thought, Steve stretched, gave her better access, bared his throat to her.

He was awarded with the feeling of her tongue licking over his heated skin, her lips going further down, over his chest again, his stomach, its muscles clenching, rippling with the tension and desire burning in him.

But still her lips went further, she pressed a kiss to the soft skin just at the beginning of his thigh.

“W-what are you doing?”, he asked breathlessly and when Sophie looked up at him, his mouth went dry. There was fire in her gaze and a smile on her lips, the most dangerous smile he had ever seen, but also the most arousing. It was a strange mixture, but he was helpless before it.

“Leave it to me.”, Sophie murmured and placed a soft kiss onto his stomach again. Then she glanced at him, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, and she leaned down, unerringly placing a kiss onto the tip of his member.

Steve gasped in surprise and arousal both, but before he had a chance to overcome this, her hand was on his delicate flesh as well and her lips were around it, enclosing him in warmth, wetness…bliss.

The moan that escaped him was embarrassingly loud, but he could not help it. Every touch of her hand, her tongue made him jerk, made his muscles clench, his hips buckle upward, towards her. He had never felt anything like this, had never thought he would, had not thought something like this possible. Sure he had heard about…this, but had never imagined it to feel like that…or to actually ever happen to him.

Steve balled his fists as there was barely anything else he could do. His breath was laboured, his heart pumping for all its worth and he bit his lip to keep the moans from spilling out like a flood. He was close again, he knew it, and he tried to form words, to warn Sophie, say something at least, but all he managed was some unintelligible babbling. Sophie, however, understood nevertheless or simply knew him better than he knew himself, for with a long, loving stroke of her tongue, she released his flesh and smiled at him.

Steve could barely meet her gaze, but when he closed his eyes, she framed his face again and demanded: “Look at me.”

It took him a moment. He felt…dirty, as if he should not have made her do that. He knew perfectly well that he had not made her do anything, but still…

“I want this.”, Sophie said firmly, dead on target once again, “I want you. And I will have you.”

Who was he to object? He did not want to and neither did he think he could.

“So?”, she asked and he tried to speak, but then merely nodded, unable to find words.

“Tell me.”, Sophie asked him, leaned to the side and fished something out of the pocket of her pants, a little square package, a condom, as Steve belatedly understood.

“Tell me.”, she repeated, “Do you want to do this?”

Again he nodded, but Sophie slowly shook her head: “Tell me.”

Steve groaned helplessly, raised his hips, wanted to feel her, but she remained firm and so he whispered, barely audible even to himself: “I…I w-want you.”

At this she smiled and quickly leaned down to him, one hand on his neck, pulling his head against her lips, pressing an almost crushing kiss onto his mouth, diving deep once again. And he loved it, every second of it.

When Sophie leaned back, Steve was about to protest, but she ripped open the package and touched his painfully erect length again, rendering him gasping for breath and unable to speak. Faster than he understood what was happening, Sophie had slipped the condom onto him, but then she paused, looked at him. In her eyes, he saw the same knowledge he possessed, that this moment would change everything.

He gulped, tried to reach for her, wanted to feel her, but he could not. However, Sophie, as always, understood him without a word and she smiled, then ever so slowly, Sophie lowered herself onto his length.

The sensation… nearly made his heart stop. He had thought that the feeling before had been bliss, but it was nothing compared to this. Sophie was still straddling his middle, but now so much closer and Steve was breathing hard, panting, anxious to do something, but was at a loss at what to do.

Sophie was biting her lip, her hands on his chest trembling and for the first time, Steve realised that he was not the only one overwhelmed with emotion. She was too, but she was much more confident, more in control. But she was at the mercy of her feelings, because of him. It was a compliment, just like she had said before.

Sophie opened her eyes and met his admiring gaze, then she slowly began to move, sending another wave of pleasure surging through his body, seriously threatening his heart.

Using her hands on his chest for support, Sophie moved, leaned closer to him, but she was just not close enough for him to kiss her. It was frustrating as there was only little he could do, but his body clearly wanted to do something.

Steve did not comprehend it, but he did not waste a single thought at his instincts. He clenched his teeth and, without realising it, fought against his restraints, no conscious thought possible anymore. Sophie understood and she released his hands. With the restraints suddenly gone, Steve just reacted, his body acting on its own volition. His arms were around Sophie faster than he had ever done anything, and he pulled her to his chest, pressing a hard, demanding kiss onto her lips, and his hips thrust upward, against hers, again and again, chasing the height of lust, wanting to feel it again, but this time to experience it with her.

Sophie cried out a moan and clenched her fists in his hair, sending a mixture of lust and pain through Steve’s body, all over, all at once. Every last muscle in him tensed and with a loud groan, Steve spent himself, his movements slowing down, but his hold on Sophie tightened. His breath came in laboured pants and all thought was gone, but out of their own accord, his hands moved, stroked up and down Sophie’s back, his fingers combing her hair. All of this happened without a single thought in Steve’s mind.

When conscious thought slowly returned to him, he opened his eyes, not knowing that he had closed them at some point. He met Sophie’s gaze, a smile on her face as she murmured: “You are… impressive.”

He returned her smile, but then it waned on his lips.

“What is it?”, Sophie asked and he loosened his grip on her, only then realising how tight it had been, and he gently brushed away a strand of hair as he asked her, “Did I…did I hurt you?”

Sophie chuckled and shook her head: “No. Why would you think that?”

“I was…rough, was I not?”, Steve mumbled, ashamed, but Sophie grinned, “You were out of control. But that’s good.”

“Yeah?”, he breathed and she nodded, “Remember what I told you about you losing control is a compliment? It is, honey. You always keep your cool, are always in control, always in charge. But you weren’t with me. You gave control to me, you… gave yourself up to me. Me of all people. Seeing you like that, helpless in my hands…it’s a precious thing.”

Relief made him smile, as did love and Steve held her close, leaned to her to kiss her and Sophie gladly met him halfway. When she leaned back, she was smiling, and slowly she slid aside. Both of them moaned as they lost the intimate connection of their bodies and they both laughed at their simultaneous sound of disapproval.

Sophie pecked him on the lips, but before Steve could grab her, she was gone again, and with nimble fingers, whose touch made him gasp once again, she had taken the condom off him and disposed of it before he had recovered from the touch.

Without shame, Sophie got up, naked, and asked him: “Give me five minutes in the bathroom, then let’s sleep.”

Steve gaped at her and she smirked: “What, wanna get rid of me that quickly?”

“No!”, he hurried to say, “Of course not! I…would love to have you here. All night.”

Now that he had realised that, the possibility of spending the night alone seemed physically painful.

“Wow, “all night” sounds promising. And I wouldn’t have gone anyway.”, Sophie jested and he playfully growled, then gathered the sheet around his hips as he got up.

“Modesty, now?”, Sophie grinned at him, “Seriously?”

“At least one of us has to be respectable.”, Steve countered and she gasped indignantly, and when he laughed, she poked her forefinger against his chest, “Aren’t you cheeky.”

“I learned from the best.”, he countered and she smiled, but then narrowed her eyes, “Dare say you meant anyone but me.”

“I didn’t.”, he reassured her and, as she playfully glared at him as if she was doubting him, Steve pulled her close to kiss her. Sophie moaned in the kiss, but when she leaned back, she stole the sheet.

“Hey!”, he complained, but she ran off, laughing and he stood there, naked, seriously debating with himself whether or not to put on some clothes before he went after her. He settled for his boxers then and followed Sophie into the bathroom. She pouted when she saw him wearing the garment and he teased: “Good luck getting those off.”

“Oh, I will.”, she threatened, “But with magic, I could only burn them off. We both don’t want that.”

“Seriously no.”, Steve gravely shook his head, but the two of them erupted in laughter a moment later. Without a word, Steve handed her a new toothbrush and within minutes, they were ready for bed, even though it was hard not to stare at her naked form the entire time.

Sophie was already lying in his bed, a sight he did enjoy very much, when she told him: “Come to bed, honey. And do lose those boxers.”

“Take them off.”, he countered, not knowing what had gotten into him, but Sophie’s smile and the look in her eyes made the short surge of shame utterly worth it. She knelt at the side of the bed and through the thin cloth, her fingers found his length again, making him groan, but then she pulled the boxers down. Goose bumps raced over Steve’s shoulders when Sophie’s face was so close to… there again and she smirked up at him, surely guessing his thoughts, but it still surprised him when she firmly licked over the entire now flaccid length.

With a smug grin, she then lay down again, but held the blanket open for him. More than happily he joined her and pulled her into his arms.

“Good night.”, he whispered and kissed her, feeling that she was tired in how she lazily returned his kiss. Sophie nestled into his arms and true enough, a few minutes later she was asleep, her chest heaving in even breaths that tickled Steve’s skin.

He wanted to sleep, too, but he was too excited still. He could barely believe what he had experienced that night, experienced with her.

With a surprised grin, he realised that no, he was not a virgin any longer.

“Thank you.”, he mumbled into Sophie’s hair, knowing that it had to sound strange, it did even to his own ears, even though he knew the reasoning behind his gratitude. He had never thought that he would know such an elating feeling, would know such deep love. But he did, thanks to her.


	10. Chapter 10

Steve slowly woke from the both strangest and most wonderful dream. He felt a bit dirty for dreaming of Sophie like…that, but he could not help it, he had enjoyed every moment of the dream.

“You’re cute when you wake up.”, a voice said and Steve winced, jumped out of his bed, ready to fight… and then gaped at Sophie, lying in his bed, naked, with the most confused look on her face.

“Oh…”, he mumbled, “Oh…oh gosh…”

It had not been a dream. Most definitely not.

“Well… you don’t look particularly happy to see me.”, Sophie slowly muttered, a crooked grin on her lips, and then she explicitly let her gaze drop to his unclothed middle and added, “But your little friend clearly is happy.”

Shame, red hot shame rushed into Steve’s cheeks and he quickly sat down onto the bed again, covering his privates with the sheet. Or at least he tried to, but in his mortified state, Sophie was quicker than him and had the sheet thrown out of the bed before he had even properly reached for it. He positively whined at that and she giggled, rolling around in happy, bell-like laughter, and she was still giggling when she sat up and looked at him: “C’mon. You’re really being this modest after last night?”

“I…”, Steve began, but then hung his head and muttered, “Sorry.”

“What for?”, Sophie asked, all laughter gone from her voice and she framed his face in her hands, so tiny compared to his, but still they had power over him he did not comprehend, for it made him look into her eyes, even if he could barely stand the disappointment he would have to face looking at them. But… he did not face what he had feared, instead she looked concerned, all mischief vanished.

“What are you sorry for?”

“That… I am so… complicated? Weird?”, Steve offered, but she smiled bitterly as a reply, “You are not weird. You are… out of time, I’ll give you that, but that’s what makes you you. You know?”

He frowned, wondering how to say this, but Sophie chuckled and took it from there before he could: “No. Okay, honey, let me rephrase that. You are unusual for today. You have a sense of honour only few people possess nowadays. Some might think it an antiquated thing, but I’m telling you it ain’t. It’s precious. Just like you are. Some idiots might not understand that and I say it’s their loss. Good riddance.”

“I can’t…”, Steve began, unsure what he was trying to say anyway, but again, Sophie knew before he did, “I know you can’t tell those people to mind their own damn business, because it’s in your sense of honour to help everyone if you can. And if you’re not sure you can, then you demand it of yourself to at least try. I adore that, I adore you. But there are people out there who don’t understand that, people who… cannot be helped because they don’t really wanna be helped. They just want to take advantage of how nice you are, how caring. And it’s my job to tell those suckers to get the hell away from you.”

Steve was speechless, utterly speechless. She was…protecting him? He had no idea why or how, but somehow he knew that this girl would fight for him with the fierceness of a lioness. God have mercy on the souls of those who cross her, he thought and without another word, overwhelmed by gratitude, affection and something much deeper he was not yet ready to call by name in the light of day, he pulled Sophie to him, kissing her deeply. He had not a care in the world that they were both naked, that it was bright in his bedroom, that there was no sheet covering them. He simply could not care less.

When his aroused and therefore sensitive flesh brushed against her thigh, Steve could not suppress a groan. How exactly, he did not know, but obviously they had rolled around because now Steve was on top of her, pinning her down with his weight. He almost withdrew, but Sophie smiled and slid her arms around his neck, gently holding him in place. He was far too comfortable to leave anyway.

“Thank you.”, he whispered, looking into her green eyes and Sophie blinked, so he elaborated with a bashful laugh, “For last night. I know that sounds dumb, but… thank you. I didn’t think I’d ever feel something like what you gave me last night.”

She grinned up at him and Steve groaned in shame, closing his eyes: “That…came out wrong.”

“Oh no.”, Sophie chuckled, “It’s good to know you appreciate my technique.”

“Sophie…”, he groaned, but when laughter bubbled up in her, he could not help but smile, although he said, “You aren’t gonna make this easy for me, are you?”

“Why would I?”, she grinned and Steve took a deep breath, then told her, “Thank you for your patience with me, for your faith in me. For… showing me those feelings.”

“You are very welcome.”, Sophie told him with a warm smile and they shared another kiss. That was broken when Steve gasped as Sophie’s nimble fingers had closed around a part of his anatomy that was very much aware of how close she was, how warm and willing her body under him, her naked body.

With a shaky breath he tried to focus, to steady himself, to reign in the awakening desire… but Sophie clicked her tongue at him: “Don’t you dare. You want me, you take me. Simple as that.”

There was nothing simple about that statement. Steve gulped and although he wanted nothing more than repeat what they had shared the night before, his thoughts were accusing him of being dirty, of mistreating her.

“Steve.”, she firmly said and bored her gaze into his, “Don’t overthink this. A relationship is about many things, among them knowing your lover, making compromise. You have to think for that. But there’s also lust. That is about instincts. So follow your instincts.”

He took another breath and released it with a heavy sigh, trying to find words to tell her how hard that was for him, but he did not get the chance. Sophie’s fingers closed tighter around his length and with a gasp, Steve gave in. Why resist if he neither wanted nor could?

Pushing the confusing thoughts aside, Steve leaned down to kiss her and the affection with which Sophie returned his kiss surprised him. At first, but then he smiled into the kiss and held her tight. Her body fit perfectly against his, as if moulded and he loved every warm, soft inch of skin he felt against his own.

He clumsily reached over to the nightstand, did not find what he was looking for and reluctantly raised his head to actually look for the box he knew was there. Within a second, he had the drawer open, the box smashed with one hand and a small package between his fingers. Sophie smiled at him, quickly snatched the condom from his grasp and she had it on him mere moments later. Her touch alone almost deprived him of whatever control he still had, but when her hands stayed there to guide him to her body, he slowly shook his head: “No, love. Let me.”

Where that boldness had come from, he had no idea, but Sophie’s smile as she tentatively licked her lips told him it was worth it, no matter what would follow.

Ever so slowly, somewhere in the back of his mind still afraid he might hurt her, Steve eased his length in, surprised at how easy it was, overwhelmed by the instant feeling of bliss. And telling from the sound Sophie made, she was feeling exactly the same. He kept utterly still, just concentrated on his breathing, on her, but when she opened her eyes and met his, something passed between them he could not explain. Whatever it was, it made them both move at the same time, in the same slow, loving rhythm that made him snake one arm around Sophie’s waist to press her against his chest while the other hand searched for hers and then interlaced their fingers in an equally tight hold.

Steve was unable to think and for once, he did not care about that. His entire world was Sophie, everything that mattered were their laboured breaths, their quiet moans, their touch, their warmth against each other’s skin.

When he leaned down again for another kiss, overwhelmed by the height of lust, it was perfection.

He totally lost track of time while trying to come down from that high again, trying to calm his desperately beating heart. When he felt reasonably calm again, Steve slowly looked up only to be met with Sophie’s smug grin. Immediately he hid his face again in the crook of her neck and she laughed, lovingly carded her fingers through his hair and teased: “Wow. You’re too much of a gentleman for your own good, you know that?”

“It’s crossed my mind.”, Steve bitterly mumbled against her skin and Sophie giggled, telling him, “That tickles.”

“Oh?”, he asked, looking up and her grin vanished as she said, her eyes wide, “Steve, don’t you da…”

But it was too late. With a smug grin of his own, Steve hid his face against her skin again and purposefully breathed against the soft skin. Sophie squealed and tried to push him off, but he held her tighter, eliciting a moan from both of them as their bodies were still joined and then his soft, tickling breaths turned into gentle kisses, careful nips at the nape of her neck.

“Hmm…”, she breathed and with another gentle kiss, Steve raised his head, kissed her lips and then slowly retreated, making them both sigh at the loss of their connection. Picking up the sheet from the floor to cover himself for the time being, he made his way to his closet to pick out some clothes (and before that, he got rid of the evidence, but there was no need for Sophie to see this), but Sophie’s voice, her grin audible in it, made him stop dead: “Didn’t think you’d have a box of condoms lying around.”

“Uh…”, he said just to play for time, “Well, I didn’t.”

“Let me guess.”, she asked, “It was Natasha.”

“I guess so.”, Steve shrugged as he turned around to her, clandestinely stepping to the trashcan, “One day, the box was simply there on my nightstand with a post-it saying “Put them to good use, Soldier-boy.” So it could’ve been Tasha. Or Tony. Or…”

“Just about anybody in the damn tower.”, Sophie laughed, but then stopped, “I swear it wasn’t me. Sounds a lot like Tony, though.”

“Yeah, it does.”, Steve said and picked out some clothes. For a moment, he wondered whether he should go into the bathroom to get dressed, but then he shrugged, dropped the sheet and simply got dressed there in the bedroom.

“I appreciate the view.”, Sophie teased and when he turned around to her, seeing her step into her panties, he said in a moment of unfamiliar brazenness, “So do I.”

She giggled, threw her shirt at him and, because it had worked so well just before, Steve joked: “Hmm, that shirt is mine now. You either have to win it back or go without a shirt for the rest of the day.”

For a moment, Sophie’s mouth stood agape, clearly as surprised by his jesting as he was himself, then she cheekily replied: “Fine, you keep it. I’m just gonna steal one of your shirts.”

With a smile, he offered to give back her shirt, but Sophie placed a kiss on his now clothed chest and snatched a T-shirt from his closet, a white one that just so showed a hint of her dark bra underneath it.

“I have to admit, you wear it better than I do.”, Steve said, but she laughed, “No, I don’t. You obviously haven’t looked into the mirror while wearing one of these.”

With another smile, he pulled her close again and Sophie returned his kiss, put her arms around his neck and pressed against him, but then she pulled back saying: “If we keep doing that, we’ll never make it out of your bedroom.”

“Would that be so bad?”, Steve whispered and she replied with a grin, “Normally I’d say no, not at all. But I do want some breakfast.”

At this he threw his head back in laughter and offered her a deal: “One more kiss, then I’ll make you pancakes.”

“With blueberries?”

“Everything you want.”, he said, but as soon as he saw the mischievous sparkle in her eyes, Steve hurried to add, “On the pancakes, everything you want on the pancakes. As an ingredient.”

She pouted, but then nodded and they made their way down together. Steve did not waste a thought on what the others might think until he heard Clint’s laughter from the kitchen, then he tensed and Sophie nudged him gently: “Relax. You’re not wearing a neon sign of what we’ve done, alright? Just act naturally. It’s not that hard.”

“Says you.”, Steve mumbled, but then gave her hand a squeeze and entered the kitchen with her, saying, “Good morning.”

“Morn, Cap.”, Clint said, Bruce nodded at them, but Natasha narrowed her eyes, just for a moment, then she nodded to the kitchen, “Coffee’s ready.”

“Thanks!”, Sophie smiled brightly and got herself and him a cup while Steve got to work on the pancakes, the eerie feeling in the back of his head that Natasha knew, somehow she knew. There were no cameras in his room, right? Jarvis would not have ratted them out, would he now?

A little uneasy, Steve went for the milk, but when he closed the fridge, he almost jumped as he saw Natasha standing there, having silently sneaked up on him and now wearing a smirk on her lips.

“What can I do for you?”, he asked, and then clumsily cleared his throat, “Some pancakes?”

“Can it.”, she quietly said as her smile grew only bigger, “You seem happy. And I have a pretty good idea why.”

Steve sighed, evaded her eyes and then turned to the pancake batter, mumbling: “So much for not wearing a neon sign over my head.”

Natasha laughed, she actually laughed and then handed him the whisk with a continuing smile: “Interrogation 101, Captain. Vaguely imply something and see what your alleged culprit admits to. You just failed and badly at that.”

Steve grimaced, but then said: “Okay, seriously though. What sort of pancakes do you want as payment for your silence?”

Natasha grinned happily, but she shook her head: “I’m not here to blackmail you or make fun of you. I’m just here to tell you that you look happy and that I’m happy for you. I’m your friend, remember?”

“It slipped my mind for a second.”, he admitted, now smiling too, “You can be pretty intimidating.”

“Yeah.”, Natasha shrugged, “Just for that insult I want two pancakes with strawberries, ASAP.”

“You got it.”, he told her and she went to get another cup of coffee while he made breakfast, an almost moronic smile plastered onto his face. But he did not care in the slightest. He listened to the chatter behind him, but did not really hear anything, he was just too giddy and for once alright with the world. Curious how one night of being shown that he was indeed loved could change a man, Steve thought to himself while he cheerfully hummed a tune and stacked the pancakes.

When he served them and Clint snatched one from his own plate, he was not even mad. And he did not take it back, did not even comment on it. That was suspicious, but he was beyond care for the day.

Clint narrowed his eyes, then glanced at Sophie, smiled and winked at Steve. Really, did everyone know?

He glanced at Bruce, only to find the good doctor sipping his tea and arching an eyebrow at Steve for his prolonged staring.

“Everything alright?”, Bruce asked and before he could answer, Sophie asked, “I was wondering. Did you find anything new in the data taken from Hydra? Anything to hint at what they might know about me?”

“I…did not.”, Bruce slowly said and Steve had no idea whether it had been an evasion tactic, but he was thankful nonetheless and Natasha was smirking, barely hiding it behind her coffee mug, “As far as I can say, Hydra has no idea who you really are. They have rumours, sure, but no proof whatsoever.”

“Okay.”, Sophie nodded and Clint added, “Plus, they’d be gigantic idiots if they went after you now. You know, being… at the Avengers Tower an’ all.”

He had made a meaningful pause and glanced at Steve, but he was relieved to hear that Clint had not spilled their secret. That somehow he and Natasha knew anyway, somehow.

Just when Steve had relaxed a bit, Sophie put her hand onto his thigh, under the table, and it almost made him jump. He knew it was stupid, but he could not help a light blush, however, her innocent smile told him she really had not had any mischievous intentions. Just affection. And he liked every bit of it.

“Morn’…”, Tony’s voice grumbled a greeting from the doorway and Steve turned to see the billionaire as tired and probably hung over as ever. So he had not thought Tony capable of any observation whatsoever, but sure enough his eyes locked onto Sophie’s hand on Steve’s thigh and a wide, smug grin appeared on Tony’s face.

“Ha!”, he yelled, making Bruce jump and almost spill his tea, “I knew it! Way to go, Capsicle.”

Sophie shrugged with a grin, Natasha gave him a pitiful look and Clint raised his hand to high-five Tony. Only Bruce was left clueless and mumbled curiously: “Would someone please tell me what I have missed?”

Steve felt his cheeks glow with shame he did not want to feel but at the same time could not help. Tony, however, had no such problem, as he got a cup of yoghurt from the fridge, and, while rummaging for a spoon, nonchalantly told Bruce: “Oh, nothing much, buddy. Just that Cap here isn’t a 90-year-old virgin anymore.”

Steve hid his head in his hands and mumbled sideways at Sophie: “So much for not wearing a neon sign, huh?”

“Well, obviously you are a neon sign, honey.”, she grinned and he felt like sticking his tongue out to her. Something she obviously knew, because she did it first and Bruce chuckled, took his glasses off and then shrugged, addressing Tony: “So? Cut them a break, young love is precious.”

“Thank you.”, Steve said, surprised, but Bruce merely smiled and went back to his tea without another word.

“Ugh, you are no fun.”, Tony accused him, but then got himself coffee and padded over to the table, plopping down onto a chair as he looked at Steve, “At least now I know that you really did put my gift to good use.”

“Uh…”, Steve was mortified, but Sophie stepped in with a grin, “We did, thanks for being so considerate.”

“Anything for our Soldier-Boy.”, Tony grinned, but when he saw Steve glaring at him, he added, “Boss. And anything for your beautiful gal.”

“I’m warning you, Stark.”, he began, but Sophie playfully slapped his arm, “Let it go, honey. It was a considerate gift and at least now the cat is outta the bag, so no sneaking around. Be a bit grateful.”

“Ah, what she said.”, Tony nodded and Steve sighed, but when Sophie pecked him on his lips, a bright grin on hers, he conceded, “Thank you, Tony.”

“You’re welcome, Cap. And have fun, you two.”, he replied with a smile Steve felt was genuine. They finished breakfast entertaining themselves with pleasant conversation and Tony’s occasional tease until Jarvis announced: “Sir, Thor has arrived.”

“Oh?”, Tony mumbled, but before anyone else could speak another word, they already heard Thor’s booming voice ring through the hall, “Friends, we have to go!”

“Good morning to you, too, sunshine.”, Tony saluted him with his coffee mug, but Thor was obviously not up for any jokes, that much was clear.

“What happened?”, Sophie asked in concern, immediately at her uncle’s side and the change in his features could not have been more to the opposite. From a frown, hard eyes and lips pressed to a thin line, Thor smiled down at her with warmth in his eyes and genuine laughter as he pulled Sophie into a hug. The relief was short-lived, though, for Thor added gravely, one arm still around Sophie: “Heimdall has spotted something that could be a base of Hydra. We have to go, my brother’s sceptre could be there.”

“You sure?”, Clint asked and Thor shrugged his massive shoulders, “No, but it is as good a guess as any.”

“Where is that base?”, Tony asked and then told Jarvis, “Jar, buddy, show me the possible locations we have identified so far.”

“Very well, Sir.”, the AI spoke and a screen flickered to life, showing pinpoints all over the world.

“This one.”, Thor said and pointed to a location in Eastern Europe, making Tony nod thoughtfully, “Yeah, we thought that one might be a good guess. What did your buddy see?”

“A lot of activity in an otherwise deadly silent forest.”, was the explanation and Bruce shrugged, “Sounds reasonable enough.”

“Then we must go.”, Thor urged them on and Tony mumbled, “Damn Hydra bastards. I haven’t even had my coffee yet. Alright, people, let’s roll.”

They all headed out, Bruce shortly squeezing Sophie’s shoulder with a smile, but she then turned to Thor: “You just got here.”

“I know, little one, and I am sorry.”, her uncle said, pulling her into yet another hug, “I will make it up to you, but we have to go.”

“I know, it’s important. Just…take care, okay?”, she replied and Thor smiled down on her, “Always, little one. You take care as well, Jarvis will be here for you.”

“And Pepper, I know. I’m good, just go and kick some baddy-ass. And take care.”, Sophie said, hugging her uncle as best she could, then she turned to Steve and said gravely, “And you, Mister, take special care. I want you back in one piece, healthy, safe and sound. You hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Ma’am.”, Steve smiled and without thought, leaned down to kiss her. There was a tinge of desperation on Sophie’s lips, but when he pulled back, she firmly said: “Go. Go, God’s sake before I try to stop you.”

Steve could not help it, he placed another quick, loving peck on her lips, then rushed out, Thor closely behind him.

Thor.

As he realised that, he would have almost stopped dead in his tracks, but instead he kept going.

“Good to see you happy.”, Thor said with a smile and clapped Steve on the back so hard he almost toppled over, “And it is especially good to see my niece so happy. You are good for her.”

“I hope so.”, Steve mumbled and Thor nodded, but then added, “If you’re not, you will feel the power of Thor. First hand.”

The God of Thunder smiled innocently at him, but if Steve had ever heard a threat, then that would have been the paragon of threats.


	11. Chapter 11

“What’s our ETA?”, Steve asked, leaning over to Clint who was flying the Jet back to the Tower, back home.

“Anxious, are we?”, the marksman teased him and Steve glared at him, but then, thinking of Sophie and how she would have handled such a joke at her expense, he shrugged and replied, “Yeah. There were no proper pop tarts in Poland.”

Clint roared with laughter and nodded as he said: “Well played, Captain. That girl really is good for you.”

“She’s better for me than I am for her, I’m afraid.”, he mumbled as a reply, but he instantly felt a reprimanding slap against the back of his head and Natasha scolded him, “Nonsense. Have you seen her at breakfast before we left? She’s so in love it’s not even funny anymore.”

“Jealous much?”, Steve asked and she nudged his shoulder, saying, “Why would I be? It’s so sappy it makes you wanna puke.”

With that she stalked away, leaving a smile on Steve’s face and a lingering grin on Clint’s as he muttered under his breath: “Yeah, sweetheart, you keep telling yourself that.”

That made Steve turn and look at Natasha as she casually walked past Bruce, but lingered long enough to check on him. There was a reason why she was able to talk the Hulk down when no one else had ever managed to do that. But he kept his mouth shut, did not want to interfere.

“By the way, our ETA is…just about now.”, Clint said as the Jet cut through the clouds and quickly descended to the landing platform.

“Splendid.”, Steve grinned and joined the rest of the team in the back of the jet, quickly picking up his shield as he did so.

“Wow, Cap.”, Tony mumbled, “You wait a few years and all that eagerness will be drained by your love life’s daily grind.”

“Can it, Stark.”, Steve replied with a bright smile, “I don’t care what you say.”

“Ouch.”, Tony acted wounded to Thor’s immense laughter who then clapped Steve on the back and told him, “Many an Asgardian has looked down on mortals, but time and again you all make me see what wonderful creatures you are. Strong in situations we would least expect it, hopeful in the face of certain demise. It is inspiring.”

“Wait, what was that about certain demise?”, Tony asked, “Did I not get the memo?”

“That’s what happens if you never read the newspaper.”, Bruce dryly quipped as he passed Tony on his way out of the Jet and so he was the first to set foot onto the tower…and thereby the first to be tackled in a fierce hug only Sophie could deliver.

“You’re back!”, she happily called and, even before Bruce had had a chance to return her gesture, she dashed off, hugged Thor who laughed and said, “It is good to see you, little one.”

“And you.”, she nodded as she let go and then turned to Steve. He opened his arms…but she did not run to him.

“Now, what should I do with you?”, she sternly asked, to his utter astonishment and, frankly, dismay, so he barely heard Tony clear his throat behind him and reply, “If I might make a suggestion: Take him to your quarters and make sure we’re all out of earshot.”

“Good idea, actually.”, Sophie smiled and then did run to him, jumping into his arms trusting that he would catch her. And he did, spinning them both around before he kissed her.

“Put me down, Mister, I’m angry.”, Sophie sternly told him, even though she could not hide the mischievous sparkle in her eye, but it gave him pause nonetheless, “Why?”

“You did not even call once.”, Sophie told him and Steve chuckled, “We were gone two days.”

“Two days to many.”, Sophie chuckled and Tony laughed, “Ah, young love. We’ll leave you to it, yeah. And please, no indecent behaviour on the roof, okay, kids?”

Steve was speechless, but Tony merely winked at him and silently mouthed: “Thank me later.”

“That man…”, he began, but Sophie finished his sentence with a giggle, “Is priceless. He’s solid gold. I mean both his bank account and his heart, that’s quite something.”

“I didn’t even know he had a heart.”, Steve mumbled, but then smiled down at Sophie and this one movement earned him a sweet kiss he had missed for two days straight. It really was good to be back home.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call.”, he said, “I just… I didn’t know how, there wasn’t really time and…”

“Shush, honey.”, Sophie smiled as she put a finger to his lips, “I know. I was… just bitching a bit because I missed ya.”

He arched an eyebrow at that and added: “Don’t speak in such derogative terms of yourself. You deserve better.”

Sophie smiled and said: “You’re sweet. Thank you.”

Steve hummed contently into the kiss she placed on his lips and too soon she pulled away, grasped his hand and pulled him into the tower, asking: “So, how did your mission go?”

“Not according to plan.”, he muttered as they entered the tower and making their way, as he assumed, to his room, “There was a Hydra base alright, but it was abandoned, they must’ve gotten wind of our actions. The only thing we found…”

He fell silent, trying to force the images out of his mind, but did not succeed.

“Hey.”, Sophie stopped and cupped his cheek in her palm, “You okay?”

“Yeah.”, he nodded, trying to shake the chill off that raced down his back, “Actually, no. All we found was a cell block and all cells were…occupied. They were all dead. Frozen to death or starved, hard to say.”

“Oh my God…”, Sophie breathed, “How…?”

“Could they do that?”, Steve asked hotly, “I don’t know. I don’t think I want to know what kind of experiments they performed. But then just leave those people to die? I have no clue how one human being could do that to another. One of them was just a young girl, barely a teenager. Left for dead.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”, Sophie said and gently pulled his head down to rest on her shoulder as she spoke sweet nothings and carded her fingers through his hair. Steve took a deep, reassuring breath, then straightened up again and said: “It’s…horrible, but I’m alright. I will be. We took their pictures and Jarvis is trying to identify them. With a little luck, we can tell their families where we buried their loved ones.”

“You buried them. Of course you did.”, Sophie smiled up at him and when he stayed silent, not willing to dwell on this topic any longer, she apparently sensed it as she smiled, “Allow me one last question, then we will talk about something happier. Did you find the sceptre, my father’s?”

“No.”, he shook his head and she merely accepted the news with a hard nod of her head, then she tapped the tip of his nose and chuckled, “Boop. I’ve baked you pie.”

“Pie?”, he asked, taken aback and feeling a warm sensation he ascribed to deep affection… and something more.

“Yeah, apple pie.”, Sophie confirmed and added, “It’s both a gift and a bribe.”

“How so?”, he enquired and she sighed, “My Mom is back in town and… well, she asked me if we have… found our way to each other.”

“Why am I under the impression that she put that much differently?”, Steve smirked and she laughed loudly before she replied, “Because you’ve met her. And yes, she used a much more colourful expression I am not willing to repeat, lest your ears might get singed of and your heart stop. So, what do you say?”

“I accept your form of bribery.”, Steve told her and she smirked, but then bit her lip and said, “Thinking of it, maybe we should head down to the kitchen. Before the rest finds the pie.”

“Good idea.”, Steve nodded and they headed for the kitchen, for the pie, merrily chatting away about the planned lunch with Sophie’s mother. It was reassuring as it drove the haunting images of the mission from his mind. And curiously enough, Steve was not in the least concerned about meeting Sophie’s mother again, but he figured his nervousness would come, at the latest the very moment he actually met Sarah again. Yet he was looking forward to it, somehow.

 

“You nervous yet?”, Sophie smiled as they rounded the corner to the little cafe Sarah had chosen for their lunch and with surprising confidence, he said, “Nope, still not.”

“Huh.”, she smiled, leaned her head against his shoulder for a moment and then mumbled with a sly grin, “Give my Mom two minutes and she’ll have you squirming like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.”

“I never got caught.”, Steve dryly replied and made her laugh, just as he had hoped. The truth was, however, he was nervous and that only intensified when he spotted Sarah amongst the handful of guests sitting outside the cafe at the scattered tables. There was just something about a woman clad in black leather and heavy, though high-heeled boots that… was kind of unsettling.

“See who decided to show up.”, Sarah spoke instead of a greeting and hugged her daughter lovingly, but when Steve wanted to shake her hand, she surprised him by grabbing a fistful of his shirt and yanking him down to her height. It was not as long a distance as he had wished, due to her high heeled boots and he had to try hard in order to bite back his instinct to fight. But talk about punching your girlfriend’s mother for all of New York to see. Nope, not a good idea.

“Mom!”, Sophie hissed, “Let him go this instant.”

“Soon, baby.”, she sweetly said, but then turned her intense gaze to Steve and told him, stressing every word, “So you manned up and grabbed my little girl. Good on ya, kid. But, honest to God, if you hurt her, you’ll wind up drugged in an alley, wondering where the hell your kidney and your privates went.”

“Mom.”, Sophie hissed again and Steve replied, with all the calmness he could muster, “Thank you for the warning, ma’am.”

“Damn, boy.”, Sarah chuckled, “You hooked up with my baby girl, so I’m kinda obliged to hate ya. But, boy, do I like you.”

At this his eyebrows shot up, he was totally lost. But Sarah let go of his shirt and smiled at him, so everything was fine. At least he thought it was.

“Come on, sit down, that one’s on me.”, Sarah invited them, but Steve cleared his throat and said, “I can’t let you do that, I wouldn’t feel right to let you pay.”

“Well, suck it up.”, she replied and waved a waitress over to their table, the poor girl was clearly intimidated by Sarah’s display of strength and fearlessness, but she came over nonetheless and her voice did not waver much. It was… bizarre and Steve felt bad for the girl, making a mental note that he would leave her a big tip.

“So, how’ve you two been?”, Sarah enquired and Steve decided to let Sophie do the talking for the most part. Quietly, she told her mother about the training, about how much stronger her magic had become, but she did not mention how she had drained Steve’s strength in order to enhance her own, twice already.

“Any word on your dead-beat father?”, Sarah asked and Sophie shrugged with a sigh, throwing him a glance that was clearly asking for help, so he chimed in, “None so far. But I assure you, we are still looking for him.”

“Well, so much for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”, she snorted and Sophie scoffed, “Now you’re just being mean, Mom.”

“So what?”, Sarah flashed her grin, but Steve frowned and, without really meaning to do it, he asked, “You are looking for him, too.”

Well, he had planned to ask, but it came out as a statement. And as soon as the words were out, he was absolutely convinced of their truth.

The quick glance Sarah shot at him was superfluous confirmation.

“Mom, is that true?”, Sophie asked, her voice calm, dangerously calm and level, almost cold. Sarah looked at her, bland disinterest in her gaze as she asked, “And if?”

Sophie cocked her head as if thinking, then she calmly said: “Nothing much, really. It’s just that, you know, he could kill you. And he will. Trust me on that. But other than that, no, everything’s right as rain.”

Cynicism was dripping off her words like acid and Steve found himself staring at her wide-eyed. Never had she sounded more like her father, never.

“But, by all means, go ahead, get yourself killed.”, she added and Steve grabbed her hand, squeezed it tightly, a bit too tightly until she looked at him, only then did he mumbled quietly, “Calm down. You might not like your mother’s actions, but I am sure she has a reasonable explanation.”

At least he dearly hoped she had.

“Alright then, pray tell.”, Sophie addressed her mother with a shark-like grin and when she stayed silent, she sneered at Sarah, “That’s the amount of reason I suspected.”

“Sophie.”, Steve firmly said, not used to seeing her being so mean, so…she would probably have called it “bitchy”, even though he did not care much for the term.

“Yeah, I was looking for him.”, Sarah belatedly affirmed Steve’s observation, but she was looking at her daughter, “I may hate his guts for what he’s done, but he is your father. I guess you know what that means for his connection to me.”

Steve could not help but clear his throat awkwardly and Sophie blushed a bit, too, but then hissed angrily: “Why on Earth should that matter now after all these years?!”

Sarah smiled, a sad and bitter smile that Steve thought was heart-wrenching, so her reply hardly surprised him: “Who said it didn’t matter throughout all those years?”

Sophie’s mouth stood agape and silence fell, the two women looking at each other, something passing between them so vividly that Steve thought he almost heard the words they spoke without actually speaking. Yes, Sarah had somehow loved him all those years even though she had also hated him, no, Sophie had had no idea, not even the slightest that there had been anything between them other than the obvious hatred Sarah always showed for her father.

Steve felt as if he was intruding into something that belonged to mother and daughter, so he averted his eyes and instead watched their surroundings. As he did, he immediately froze. As inconspicuously as he managed to, he kept looking around, counting the people who seemed out of place, wearing unremarkable, yet to him obvious black combat gear even though it was a bright and warm day. He counted seven. Not too bad, he had taken as many Hydra agents on all by himself and those folks were exactly that, he was sure. He was, however, concerned about all the civilians in the area, not counting Sarah and Sophie. He was of course concerned about them, but he knew they could pull their own weight if need be.

And it just might come to that, he thought darkly when he saw the agents encircle them. They were good, but Steve knew the three of them were better.

“Ladies, I hate to interrupt this conversation, but we have company.”, Steve said cheerfully, not letting on what he was actually thinking, “Don’t look now, but there are seven men in black combat gear circling in on us. We can’t stay here.”

“Too many civilians.”, Sarah laughed and patted his upper arm to play along while she clandestinely let her other hand vanish beneath the table and Steve heard the telltale click of a gun’s safety being switched off. He also felt a sizzling in the air he at first ascribed to adrenaline, until he looked at Sophie and just knew it was her magic. Steve was not armed, but before they got up to leave the civilians behind, he put a few bills on the table, for the poor waitress, an action that earned him a smile from Sophie and a frown from her mother, but then they vacated their spot at the cafe and casually strolled through the streets.

A few glances told Steve that they were still followed and as soon as they set foot into a back alley, one of the agents blocked their way.

“You really wanna do this?”, Sarah asked, “I’m not having the best day.”

“Shut up, bitch.”, the agent snarled and Sarah shrugged, but Steve said, “Now you’ve made her mad. You really should not have done that.”

Surrounded by the seven men, all three of them sprung into action at the same time in a blur of motion, and the air was filled with thuds from punches that had hit home, pained grunts and harsh breaths. Going up against three of the agents, Steve had a hard time looking out for Sarah and Sophie, but as one of his opponents stumbled over the limp bodies of one of his buddies and two other were propelled to the other end of the alley by Sophie’s magic he could feel like a pull, he knew they were probable better off than he was.

The bang of a gun startled him and he whirled around, only to see Sarah snarl: “Son of a bitch.”

The leering agent who had shot at her was struck down by a roundhouse kick so fast Steve had trouble seeing it and he fell to the floor, unconscious like the rest of his group.

“Well, that was fun.”, Sarah said, “Could’ve done without another gunshot wound, though. Shit, that jacket is ruined.”

“You’re injured?”, Sophie asked, her voice higher than usual and she rushed over, but Sarah waved it off, “I’ve had far worse. That guy really is a piss-poor shot.”

Steve cleared his throat, but did not comment on her swearing. Instead, he said: “Search their pockets, maybe they have something to tell us why they were after us.”

“I’m pretty sure they were after me.”, Sophie told him and he nodded, but crouched down next to an unconscious agent nonetheless as he replied, “Wouldn’t hurt to know for sure, though.”

“Then know this.”, a deep voice rumbled through the silence their skirmish had left behind, “She is a criminal in the Allfather’s eye and we will not leave without her.”

Steve looked up and found himself face to face with five Asgardian warriors.

“Guys…”, he began, “You are wrong.”

“We have no quarrel with you, mortal.”, the warrior who had spoken before addressed him, “Step aside and you will not be hurt.”

“My ass.”, Sarah snorted and Steve did not move out of their way. Not in a million years would he even have considered it.

“I am telling you, you’re wrong. She is a mere mortal.”, Steve firmly said and the warrior nodded, “The woman is. But not the girl. Step aside.”

“No.”, he firmly told them and the warrior slightly bowed, “So be it.”

Without another word or gesture, all five of them attacked.

Again Steve found himself up against three opponents, but he quickly learned that a Hydra agent and an Asgardian were two very, very different things to deal with. The first blow that hit him, square in the back, felt crippling, but clenching his teeth he kept fighting, wishing for his shield. But in its absence, he tried to pry the spear from one of the warriors, yet to no avail. At first, but then one of them was flung against the wall, leaving a deep dent, then he crumpled to the floor unconscious. Sophie’s work, no doubt.

Steve quickly dashed to the unconscious warrior, snatched up the spear and defended himself against three of the Asgardian guards. Three…?

He would almost have glanced back at the unconscious guard, but his instinct barely prevented it, telling him that either Sophie or Sarah were in trouble if they were not fighting that third guard. He quickly glanced around, found Sarah fighting a guard, but before he could look for Sophie, his eyes fixed on Sarah. Dread settling in his gut as he saw her sidestep to avoid the spear’s razor-sharp blade, knowing that she had miscalculated her evasion. And she had.

All Steve could do was watch in horror as the spear cut deeply into her abdomen, leaving a deep gash in its wake and deepest red welling out.

A fierce blow against his temple threw him to the ground, but he jumped to his feet again and fought with everything he had while trying to get to Sarah. He had to get her out or she might die. No, she would die. He knew it. But he did not know where on Earth Sophie was…

“Sophie!”, he shouted, hoped she would hear him, get her mother to safety, but Sarah lay there in the dirt of the back alley, crumpled to the ground like a ragdoll some cruel kid had thrown aside. And blood was seeping from her wound, far too quickly, far too red.

Another blow swept his feet out from under him and he ungracefully thumped to the ground, the wind forced from his lungs in a pained groan. Yet he got up again, but a spear slashed the back of his hand and, swung in an upwards arc, yanked the stolen spear from his own hands. Steve was not yet ready to admit defeat though, so he reached for the spear again and the warrior who had spoken before said calmly: “We had no quarrel with you, but now you will die.”

“No.”, Steve weakly breathed, surprised when it came out as a booming command.

That was until he realised that it had not been his voice, but Thor’s.

The friend landed in front of him, cracking the concrete with the force of his landing, and shielded him and the wounded Sarah from the warriors.

“You were deceived. The girl is no criminal, she is a victim.”, he told them and they listened, after all, he was still their prince, but Steve did not pay attention. For one, his head throbbed far too badly for that and second, he had to take care of Sarah.

So he immediately crawled over to her, hoping against better knowledge to find her alive. Surprisingly, she was, but to his horror, she already looked more dead than alive.

Without thought, he yanked his shirt off in order to press it to her wound – to no avail, probably – and he strained to make an emergency call, frantically telling the woman who had answered his call where to find them and that they had to hurry.

He did not mention that he was afraid not even teleportation would be fast enough.

A glance told him that Thor was still debating with the warriors, but they had lowered their weapons at least and what little Steve had understood from their conversation troubled him deeply. It came as a relief to hear the familiar shrill yell of sirens and the warriors vanished just before the paramedics rounded the corner. He stepped back, let them do their job and watched as they took Sarah away to an uncertain future.

His mind was numb and only one question waved dully through it: Would she live?

He had no idea.

Steve almost jumped when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, but it was only Thor, asking him in concern: “Are you hurt, my friend?”

“No…”, he shook his head even though his body protested, but when he looked at his hands, he knew why there had been such concern in Thor’s voice. His hands were stained with blood, as if doused in it. Sarah’s blood. And a little of his own.

“My brother tricked them.”, Thor said, pulling Steve out of his dark thoughts, “All of Asgard. He posed as our father and reigned.”

“He did what now?”, Steve muttered in disbelief, but Thor nodded gravely, “He had us all fooled. But he was pulling the strings, ever since his alleged death. No one knows where my father is or what Loki has planned. But I knew I had to take care of my niece. Where is she?”

Fear cut through the numbness of his shocked mind, fear so sharp it did not even hurt, yet instantly hurled him into a panicked frenzy: “Sophie?”

Frantically, Steve looked around, but did not find her, there was no trace of her, nothing.

“Sophie?!”

She was gone. How…?

“No…”, he mumbled, “No, please, where are you?”

Thor did not say a word, but the heavy sigh and the fear in his eyes spoke volumes.

Loki…? No, he did not want to believe it.

But why else would she have vanished unless she had been forced to?

Suddenly, it was too much and Steve’s knees buckled, his legs gave way and he flopped down onto the ground, staring at his blood-stained hands, wondering whether he had lost the woman he loved… before he had had a chance to tell her. For the second time in his life.


	12. Chapter 12

“Steve, stay here.”, Bruce weakly told him, but Steve merely shook his head, yet the doctor did not stop, but wearily added, “It has been three weeks. You have looked New York over twice, at least. She isn’t here.”

“She has to be.”, was all he replied as he strapped his shield on, but Bruce did not give in, “Thor has Heimdall looking for her and he cannot find her. I’m sorry, but there is no hope for you to find her.”

Steve glared at him for that, but then wordlessly turned to head out. His path was blocked by a petite figure that nevertheless was intimidating, but her effect was lost on him: “Get out of my way, Natasha.”

“No.”, was her simple reply and Clint took a firm stand behind her, backing her up as she said, “You will stay here.”

“No.”, he replied just as curtly and stepped around her, shoved Clint aside to head out, but before he could, the door closed, just barely not scraping off the tip of his nose.

“You’re staying.”, Tony’s voice reached him from the other end of the room and when he whirled around, he saw him standing there, leaning against the doorway to the next room, arms crossed.

“What is the meaning of this, Stark?”, he demanded to know and Tony chuckled darkly, “Call it an intervention, if you will.”

Steve narrowed his eyes at him for that, but Tony continued unfazed: “Brucie here is right, you’ve looked all over for her, so have we, so has Thor, gosh even Heimdall is straining his eyes and that guy can see the grass grow. We haven’t found her and that’s that.”

“We have to look harder.”, Steve said, knowing how that sounded, but to be honest, he was desperate. He had nothing left but the insane hope to find her.

“Maybe.”, Tony shrugged, but then added, musing, “Makes you wonder, though.”

“What?”, Steve asked, barely controlling the helpless rage boiling up inside him. He knew very well that Sophie’s disappearance and Sarah’s complicated injury that kept her in the hospital were not Tony’s fault, but there was nothing else he could do than lash out at the willing target and it drove him almost mad.

“Just makes you wonder, you know?”, Tony shrugged, “We can’t find her, Thor can’t who loves his little cute niece so much, Heimdall can’t find her although he sees everything. You can’t even find her although you surely thought she was the love of your life you actually got to do more with than just admire her from afar.”

“What are you saying?”, Steve ground out between clenched teeth and Tony sighed, “No one’s able to find her, her magic has grown stronger ever since she’s come here. Kinda makes you wonder if she didn’t just need some place to cool off or regain her strength before…moving on.”

“Meaning?”, Steve asked, too enraged to form coherent sentences and Tony shrugged once again, as if this was absolutely none of his business, “Worthier occupations?”

Steve did not react to this and Tony threw his arms up in the air in a frustrated groan as he asked, “Geez, Cap, want me to spell it out for you? You were just a delicious side dish for her. The girl betrayed you. All of us.”

“She did not.”, Steve said firmly, his heart pounding in his chest a mile a minute, beating against his ribcage, and his fists balled in the almost uncontrollable urge to punch something. Or someone. Anything.

“I don’t like the thought, either.”, Natasha quietly spoke behind him, “But you have to consider it.”

“No, I do not.”, Steve growled at her, but she was unfazed and put a hand on his shoulder, telling him, “Yes, you do. You’ve told us that you think she’s with Loki, but why would she be? Unless she wanted to be.”

“He forced her.”, Steve ground out, but Natasha’s weak smile told him it sounded as weak of an explanation as he thought it was. Still, it was the best explanation he had been able to come up with, anything else made even less sense, but neither did this particular theory. He had to find her.

“Do you believe it?”, he asked, his voice just a hushed whisper and he was sure that Natasha could see more than he wanted her to know, as he had to blink away tears of helplessness, defeat, hurt and yes, fear, “Do you think she betrayed us?”

“It doesn’t matter what I…”, she began, but Steve interrupted her by grabbing her hand too tightly, “It matters.”

She waited a moment before she replied, her gaze steadily boring into his: “I don’t want to. But I think she did.”

With a scoff, Steve left her there and stormed out. If Tony or anyone else would want to stop him, so God help them.

“Oi, Cap…”, Tony began, but Bruce spoke calmly, “Let him go, Tony.”

And for his own good, he did.

Steve left the Tower with nowhere to go, no idea where Sophie could be… and with nothing but pain in his heart. Not knowing what to do, he drove around aimlessly, only half-heartedly looking for her.

He did not even know for how long he had been on the road, only that he had reached the outskirts of the city where there was even some woodland. It was pleasant, but boring and absolutely not what he was looking for. He was looking for Sophie, hoped for her. What he got instead was nothing but interchangeable family homes, only varying in the scatter pattern of toys in the front yard.

It was something he would never have.

With a pained sigh, he decided that he would no longer look for her here and decided to turn around at the next cross-way. When he reached it, a flash of light caught his eye and he hit the gas, gunning a red light. No matter what he would find, at least it would be a diversion.

 

“Look at them.”, he had said, sneering as they had been watching the skirmish in the back alley, a deadly dance of Asgardian spears going up against nothing more than fists – if capable ones – and her mother’s beloved 9mm. That simply was no match and Sophie had known it the moment she had seen the warriors.

“What have you done?!”, she had spat at him, enraged by the crooked grin he had given her then, nothing but cold ice in his eyes…apart from the bitter blackness of embittered thoughts.

“I am giving you a choice.”, he had told her and from the tone alone, Sophie had known that his alleged “choice” would in fact be no such thing at all, “You can save them, my dear, or ignore them. They are beneath you.”

“Interesting choice of words for the woman you claimed to love.”, Sophie had hissed at him and for a moment, just the tiniest moment, she had elicited some sort of reaction, something, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. So quickly in fact she later on was not sure it had even ever been there in the first place.

“She is a mere mortal.”, he had whispered harshly and Sophie had shouted at him, “So am I!”

“You, my dear, are more.”, Loki had told her then, almost reverently, “You are so much more. You are my child.”

“I am also hers.”, she had countered, only infuriating him again, cold fire blazing in his eyes as he spat a reply, “You are better than her by far!”

“Am I also better than Captain America?”, she had asked then and when she thought about it now, that brought a smile to her face, “Am I better than the man I love?”

At that, her voice had broken, thick with tears as she saw him wounded, beaten…he would be killed. Because of her.

Sniffling, Sophie had said: “Name your price. I will pay.”

“It is not a price, my darling.”, Loki had replied to that and grasped her hand, making her shiver in disgust, “I am offering you what you have always wanted. We can be a family.”

“Name it.”, Sophie had repeated, her voice trembling, her hand in his grasp shaking with the rage of her helplessness and fear, fear for her mother and for Steve.

“Come with me. Be my child.”, Loki had asked of her, “I can tell you so much, show you so much, teach you…”

“And they will be safe?”, she had asked for confirmation and he had inclined his head, “They will be saved.”

“Then…”, Sophie had tried to speak, say the words that he could take her away even though she knew it was foolish, even though she knew that she would not see Steve again, ever, or her mother. But their safety was worth it, was it not?

She still smiled faintly at that futile thought, but back then on that rooftop over the back alley in which her lover and her mother had been fighting for their lives, it had seemed almost reasonable. Yet, apparently some part of her had already sensed the deception even then, because she had not been able to speak the words, but Loki had understood and taken her hand in his again, had pulled her close to lovingly embrace her like a father would. But it had not felt like back in her childhood, it had felt wrong, so wrong.

And she had immediately learned why.

“Call them off.”, she had hissed, pleaded even, but all her father had replied had been the one, simple, terrifying word, “No.”

She had fought him then, but he had turned her around in his tight grip, had forced her to watch while the Asgardian warriors had beaten Steve, injured him. And then she saw one of them ram the blade of his spear into her mother’s stomach.

“No…”, Sophie had whimpered then, had fought against Loki, against the restraints his grip had posed, she had even thrown magic at him. To no avail. All she could do then was watch in horror as her mother crumpled to the floor and how Steve, struggling to get to her, to save her, had been beaten.

From one moment to the next, a wave of nausea had then washed over her and Sophie had since concluded that whatever that might have been, it had transported her to where she had been ever since. Wherever that was.

It was a cellar, that much was clear as the air was damp, but still fresh, not mouldy. So a well kept cellar. She also thought that she was still in New York, but she had no idea what she was basing that on.

What little light spilled in through the windows had told her that she had been here for three weeks. Three entire weeks in which she had had no word of Steve, of her mother. Only daily visits from her father, he was actually late for today’s awkward talk, at least she guessed from the already declining sun, so it was almost the end of day 23. It had been the longest three weeks ever – apart from those she had spent in the hospitality of Hydra – but she had been well fed, the long lonesome days had given her the opportunity to understand and map her surroundings.

Those talks with Loki, however, had given her something maybe even more powerful, namely ample opportunity to figure out what the hell he wanted from her.

At first she had refused to believe it, but then she had realised that he really, truly only wanted a family. He was alone and desperate.

Any other creature she would have pitied, but not him. Not anymore. Not after what he had done.

So she had spent her days making plans, gathering her strength, practising magic. Of course he had known that she had used her magic, had maybe felt it, but he had not known what she was up to. And that was a good thing.

Sophie felt sorry for the mouse she had been practicing on, but sacrifices had had to be made and by now a rodent was an absolutely acceptable sacrifice for the chance at freedom. So Sophie had her plan, she just had to gather her nerves to see it through and after three weeks of isolation that was the hard part.

Smiling to herself, she hummed the tune of Yankee Doodle, then quietly sang the words as they brought back happy memories, such that made her willing to fight in order to create more memories like those the song brought to her. So in the semi-darkness of the cellar that was her prison for the time being, she whispered with a smile: “Oh, Steve.”

She cringed when a split-second later a heavy bolt was thrown back and the door opened to reveal Loki. He had no doubt heard her and he made it known immediately: “Why are you still thinking about that man? He was a lowlife.”

It hurt, hearing him speak of her beloved Steve as if he was long gone and dead, but Sophie bit the pain back and shrugged: “If you’d ever met him, you wouldn’t say such nonsense.”

That earned her a glower of the darkest kind, but she had stopped being afraid of him. If Steve and her mother were dead, there was nothing she had to lose. If they were alive… it only showed he was a softie in his core. And either way, he would not kill her. If he tried to break her instead, well, good luck to him. Hydra had tried and by now, she was sick of it.

And she had means to fight back. Maybe the time had come to put those means to good use.

“Why is he so important to you?”, Loki asked, genuinely curious, but also with the undertone of impatience after three weeks of asking the same question over and over, always receiving the same answer, “Why was mother never important to you?”

“Watch your tongue, child.”, Loki hissed and Sophie chuckled, as she had the last two days, “How long will we keep this game up, father? I’d be willing to trade. One truth for another.”

The way he raised his eyebrow told her he was hooked onto the idea. Sophie did not make the mistake of thinking she could actually beat the trickster in a game of wits. She just had to gain enough of an advantage to get a chance…

“A truth for a truth.”, Loki mused, sitting down on the old-fashioned sofa and gesturing for her to sit down as well. Against her wishes, Sophie forced herself to not take a seat across from him, but next to him on the sofa, so close their knees almost touched. He was obviously surprised, but Sophie pretended not to see it by looking at the sofa, wondering why Loki put up with such a hideous monstrosity of a squeaky sofa with a pink floral pattern. But it told her something. If he had to be frugal with his funds, it also meant he had to be resourceful…and probably not as well prepared as he would have wished.

Interesting to see him kind of out on a limb. Definitely an advantage for Sophie she had to use.

“So, tell me, why is he so important?”, Loki asked and Sophie chuckled, “Hey, who said you would get the first truth?”

“Very well.”, Loki said with a chuckle and for the very first time, Sophie realised how much that sounded like her own chuckle. They actually were alike. It was hard to believe now, even though once, at nine years old, she had thought the world of him.

So, out of nowhere, she gave in to an impulse and asked: “Why did you leave? Back then?”

Loki looked away, a slight crack in his mask, the first she had seen in weeks. Within the fraction of a second he had his features under control again, but the damage, from his point of view, was done, Sophie had seen him vulnerable. For the moment, she was vulnerable too, but she vowed silently that she would use that chink in his armour mercilessly. She just hoped she would get the chance.

“I… had important business to take care of.”, Loki replied evasively and Sophie snorted, “More important than your daughter?”

“You are not my only offspring.”, he snapped at her and for a second there, she was stunned, then she muttered, “So do I have a brother or a sister?”

“Both.”, Loki said, but then winced as if he had not wanted to disclose that. Well, tough luck, Sophie thought and she felt giddy at the thought, but quickly forbade herself to think she would best him at his own game. Still, she had to try.

However, he brushed his vulnerability away as if it had never existed and calmly spoke: “Now you know, so tell me your truth.”

“That was no answer!”, Sophie indignantly hissed, but Loki merely raised an eyebrow at her, countering, “It was the truth. Moreover, you have asked three questions by now and I have answered them all truthfully. It is my turn now.”

Damn, he had her at that, so she inclined her head and said: “Very well then, shoot.”

“Why is he so important?”, Loki asked and Sophie scoffed in disbelief. That was what he was concerned with? Alright, she would give him the truth, but about as cryptically as he had answered her questions.

“He holds a special place in my heart.”, she replied and then nodded harshly, “Next question.”

Loki opened his mouth as if to object, but then smiled: “I see. I taught you well.”

She merely shrugged, not dignifying it with an actual answer. Her father looked out the small window, thinking, and Sophie used the time to watch him closely. The time was not ready yet for her plan. Not yet, but soon.

“Your magic has not been used enough, but you have been training. Who taught you?”, Loki finally asked a question and Sophie said, her voice calm, but with a hidden and sharp edge to it, “I consulted books after you had left me.”

He stiffened the tiniest bit and she knew that she had hit home. Good. She did not hate him, it felt not right to hate him for he was her father, he had at least once been a father to her. But she would not make it easy for him and by now, they were probably beyond the point of no return anyway.

He showed no other sign that her words had hit a nerve, but instead added another question: “How have you been all these years?”

That surprised her. To say the least. Helplessly Sophie blinked at him, but then shrugged: “So-so.”

“Sophie…”, he whispered then and she was under the impression that he cared, but did he really care or was it just a deception? She did not know, maybe had never known him well enough and by now it was too late. And in that one moment, she realised why she loved Steve so much: She never had to wonder with him. Never had to second-guess anything. He was genuine, he was direct. Treachery was so foreign to him, she doubted he knew how to even spell that word. He was safety.

Unbidden, tears welled up in her eyes and she could not stop them from falling, dampening her cheeks.

“Oh, darling.”, Loki breathed and raised his hand to wipe the tears away. Sophie was so stunned, both from her epiphany and that gentle gesture that flinching away had not even crossed her mind, but when it did, her plan got a new form, a concrete form she intended to see through. She leaned into his touch and when her father pulled her to his chest to comfort her, Sophie no longer held in the sobs that had threatened to rack her these last three weeks. She did not just cry for him as he probably thought, but she cried for lost time…time with her mother and Steve, with her friends at the Tower. She wished to embrace each and every one of them, even Tony, but instead she brought her arms around her father’s lean figure, pressing her hands to his sides.

“Shush, my darling it’s alr…”, Loki began, but was cut off mid-sentence when Sophie released the pent-up magic she had stored in her palms. The raw, furious energy made him jerk and when he slouched, unconscious for the moment, Sophie did not waste a second.

Jumping to her feet, she dashed to the open door, praying to all the Gods she had ever heard of that luck would be on her side, that there was no obstacle in her way that would prevent her from leaving this house. She stormed up the stairs, out of the cellar and into an almost empty house that could have been a lovely family home, but instead it was a lame facade for her father’s wish, his desire for a family. She did not see the rooms she passed and when she caught movement in the corner of her eye, followed by a harsh command she had no mind to understand, all she did was release another bolt of energy against who ever had been standing there. All she had eyes for was the front door, precious few feet away.

Another figure suddenly blocked her path and she hissed in anger, a feral sound that did not sound human even in her own ears and with another blast of energy, she threw the Asgardian warrior back against the door, tearing it from its hinges. As he lay unconscious, she quickly jumped over him and then ran for all her worth.

There was little strength left in her, but what little she had left, she used to run as quickly as she could. She had no idea where the hell she was, not even if that was New York – or the US, for that matter – but it was a quiet suburb, that much she realised quickly.

Only a moment later, though, she realised that someone was in pursuit and her heart sank when she saw that it was her father himself.

“Stop now!”, he roared behind her and he was quickly gaining on her. Sophie knew she did not stand a chance, but she would be damned if that would make her obey his command. No, sir.

So she pushed on and ran, when suddenly all the hairs on her neck stood on end. The air was crackling, sizzling with energy, magic and even though she kept running, she expected a fierce blow of Loki’s magic to explode in her back any moment.

What she saw instead made her stumble and fall. The brightest light she had ever seen, blindingly bright and with dazzling colours, shot into the concrete in front of her, struck it like lightning, but with all the colours of the rainbow.

When the light vanished, the smell of burnt concrete remained…and Thor.

Sobbing with relief, Sophie tried to get up, but she more stumbled than ran to her uncle.

“Do not worry, little one, I have got you.”, he told her and when he gently shoved her behind his back to protect her, his hammer ready to defend, she fell to the ground. She had no strength left, but she raised her head when she heard her father’s voice address Thor: “So we meet again. I am disappointed it took you so long to figure it out, brother.”

He spat the last word as if it was a term of abuse, but Thor remained unfazed: “Give up, Loki. You have forfeited your last chance forever. Calmly accompany me and you may live.”

“Accompany you?”, Loki laughed at his face, “No, brother dearest, I think not.”

“Heimdall?”, Thor spoke, but Loki laughingly spat at him, “The old fool cannot see me. I hid my daughter from him, too.”

“But no longer.”, Thor said and horror dawned in Loki’s eyes. That was the last thing Sophie saw before a brutal force threw her aside, making her hit the concrete with a force that reverberated through her outstretched arm and she felt a distinct crack in her wrist, then pain and with it, the blinding light returned, hitting the street where she had been a mere second before.

“Give up!”, Thor roared at him, “You will never see the girl again, I swear.”

“Willing to bet your life on it?”, Loki asked in rage and without another word, the two of the were going at each other’s throats. They were too quick for Sophie, her vision blurred from exhaustion and tears, her head dizzy from both the pain in her wrist and hitting the pavement moments before.

“Sophie?”, a voice behind her asked and she clumsily tried to turn around, failing as her body ached, “Sophie?! Oh my dear God, Sophie.”

A pair of strong, familiar arms encircled her and when she realised that it was Steve, holding her tightly but gently, kissing the top of her head, her sobs broke out again and all she could do was limply sink against him. It was so good to be held, to be safe again.

“Are you alright?”, Steve asked her and with a shaky smile, she replied, “Honey, now I am.”

He returned her smile, but only for a moment, then his attention focused onto the two combatants. When Sophie heard the harsh scream of metal scraping pavement, she whirled around, only to watch in horror how Loki’s magic was throwing Thor away as if he was nothing more than a puppet.

 

“Stay here.”, Steve ordered Sophie and stood up, retrieving the shield from his back.

“Hey!”, he cried at Loki, drawing his attention away from his weakly groaning brother. Steve did not like the murderous glint in Loki’s eyes with which he had looked at Thor…but it got a lot worse when those cold eyes fixed onto him.

“Guess who decided to join the festivities.”, Loki muttered, “The brave soldier, willing to go right into the thick of it. But tell me, boy, are you willing to die?”

“Not just yet.”, Steve replied and threw the shield, not really expecting it to hit home, but it sure would have made for a nice surprise. Instead, Loki deflected it not even halfway and thereby much earlier than Steve had hoped he would. No matter, he had a job to do, a beloved to keep safe as well as a friend.

So he retrieved his shield, ducked a blast of magic as best he could and gritted his teeth through the next, then he was next to Loki and dealing a blow, certain it would hit.

Unpleasantly surprised when it did not.

Instead, his arm was twisted behind his back and it took a lot of effort to smash the shield into Loki’s face to get him off. When Steve succeeded, all he heard was a light chuckle. His opponent was wiping a few drops of blood from his brow, then he calmly stated: “You should not have done that.”

“Oh, I think I should have done so downtown years back.”, Steve replied, enraging him as he had hoped, for a raging fighter made mistakes. And Loki did make a mistake, opening his defences in a way that allowed Steve to pound the edge of his shield against Loki’s temple, but it did not have the desired – and usual – effect of knocking him out. Instead, it clearly just made him mad.

Steve learned that when a forceful blow knocked him back and he bit his tongue when he hit the pavement, hard. Magic, ugh.

That blow had hurled him quite some feet away and when he tried to get up, to fight…he could not move. His strength was there, he was in control of his body, or at least he thought he was, but he could not move.

“Oh no, don’t get up.”, Loki jovially said, “No need for such formalities. Just stay down and be a good, quiet mouse and die.”

“No!”, Sophie’s voice reached his ears and all Steve could do was listen to his fiercely beating heart, when instead he wanted to lead her away, to protect her. But he could not.

“Stop, father!”, Sophie cried and she was coming closer until she stood between him and Loki, actively shielding him from her father, “Stop this now.”

“Hold your tongue, child, you do not know what…”, Loki began a surprisingly gentle reprimand, but Sophie stopped him with a fierce hiss, “If you want to harm him, you’ll have to go through me, father.”

Loki’s snarl told him what he thought of that, but Steve was shocked when he heard his response, barely distinguishable from a growl: “Get out of my way, child.”

“Never.”, Sophie countered and her father sighed exasperatedly, making Steve fear for the worst…just when it happened. Loki released a blast of magic he felt crackling in the air long before it actually hit him…and Sophie was standing directly in its line.

He wanted to warn her, even though he knew it was too late and although he could not move, could not speak. From one moment to the next, he was barely able to keep his eyes open and belatedly, he realised what was happening.

Admittedly, he only understood long seconds after Sophie protectively extended her arms and Loki’s magic bounced off her, jumped back at him and hit him square in his chest, making him double over. His concentration was broken and so was the spell keeping Steve down, but when he tried to jump to his feet, weakness overcame him, almost making him fall over again and that was the moment he understood. Sophie was using their combined strength to overpower her father.

Without a word, Steve weakly walked over to her and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. He felt even more strength leave him temporarily, but he could stand while Loki fell to the floor.

“How…?”, he groaned in pain and bafflement that was clearly written all over his features and with a bitter, crooked grin, Sophie replied, “Love. That’s what love is, Dad. Sad to see you’ll never understand it.”

Steve was trembling and his knees threatened to buckle away under him, just when Sophie ended the siphoning of his strength to fuel her magic. He drew a raspy breath, not taking his eyes off Loki when he heard the heavy footsteps of Thor approach him.

“Here.”, Sophie said and took her uncle’s hand, the one holding the hammer, and she guided him to put the hammer down on Loki’s chest, effectively trapping him exactly where he was.

“I’d say I’m sorry.”, she then told her father who looked at her with wide eyes full of pain, “But by now, I’m not. You brought this on yourself.”

She then turned to Thor and buried her head against his chest, sobbing quietly. With a sigh that spoke volumes and could have come from Steve just as well, Thor embraced his niece and kissed the top of her head, saying: “We were so worried.”

“Believe me, so was I.”, Sophie whispered and then slowly backed away, “Tell Heimdall to take him, please. I do not wish him ill, but…”

“I know, little one.”, Thor nodded, but then looked at Steve, “Take care of her. I will return as soon as I can and together, we will convince them all.”

Steve merely nodded and with another flash of light, both Thor and Loki were gone. With a weary sigh, Sophie slumped down, fell to the pavement and Steve was next to her in a second, holding her, not willing to let go for fear she might vanish again.

“They thought I had left you willingly.”, she stated and he knew it was not a question, but there were other things to worry about, “Shush, love, that’s not important right now.”

“Like hell it is.”, Sophie replied harshly, but Steve objected, “Your wrist is twice its size and all black and blue.”

“Point taken.”, Sophie said after a quick glance at her alarmingly swollen wrist and without another word or any protest from her side, Steve picked her up and carried her to the motorcycle. It would not be the most comfortable ride, but he had to get her to a hospital.

As soon as they were en route, she insisted: “They believed I had betrayed you, didn’t they? God dammit, Steve, tell me.”

“Some did.”, he gave in and she scoffed when he added, “Tony said it first.”

“Prick.”, she mumbled, but Steve added, “No one wanted to believe it, but…”

“It was reasonable. They’d have been idiots not to suspect me. Again.”

“They were idiots to ever suspect you.”, Steve hotly replied, but she just chuckled and then whined quietly, “You know, you’re right…there are more important things than that right now. How is my mother?”

“She is…alive.”, Steve managed and she winced in his grip, so he hurried to add, “I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but one of the warriors hit her with the spear and the blade… it went deep, injured her intestines. The wound is nearly closed, but she’s battling a severe infection.”

Sophie trembled, muttering curses under her breath, so Steve carefully told her: “But she’s hanging on, fighting with all her worth. The doctors are impressed with her will to live.”

“They’ve just mistaken her stubbornness for willpower.”, Sophie meekly chuckled, cradling her clearly broken wrist and Steve, although concerned, replied equally lightly, “Aren’t those two one and the same with your mother?”

“You bet.”, she nodded and without thinking it over, Steve told her, “Bruce has been at her bed every day.”

He heard Sophie’s smile more than he saw it and her mumbled words were barely above a whisper: “He’s way better for her anyway.”

He did not question it further, but instead told her: “Hang on, we’ll reach the hospital soon.”

“Good…”, Sophie mumbled, “That’d be real good, hon.”

With that she collapsed in his arms and for a moment, Steve’s heart sank right into his boots. Then his rational mind realised that she was still breathing, so he chalked it up as exhaustion and relief, but still he hurried for the nearest hospital, just to be sure and to have that nastily splintered bone set. While he drove, he thanked God for His guidance or the sheer coincidence that had made him drive aimlessly to exactly that part of town in which Heimdall would eventually spot Sophie. He would have to buy Thor and Heimdall a cold beer, definitely.

First though, he had to take care of Sophie and he swore he would.


	13. Chapter 13

„Good day, Captain Rogers.”, the nurse greeted him with a friendly smile that Steve returned before he wanted to address her with a question, but she had the answers before he had even requested them: “Miss Blake is sleeping. The healing is going along nicely, so far, but you know how complicated the fracture is. And her mother is up and about…despite the doctors’ orders.”

“I never thought you’d be able to stop her.”, Steve chuckled and the nurse, a woman around Sarah’s age, winked at him, “Didn’t stop us from trying. It was her friend, though, who actually succeeded.”

“Bruce?”, he asked in amusement, “Wonder what he bribed her with.”

“I heard it was candy and a new jacket.”, she replied and as much as Steve enjoyed the banter with the friendly Nurse Meredith, Sophie’s favourite, he really wanted to…

“Go already.”, she shooed him away, “If she wakes up and finds out I kept you here, she’s gonna have my hide.”

“Thank you.”, he spoke in way of good-bye and hurried on to Sophie’s room. He did not even have to think, his feet knew their way after four days and he quietly opened the door to slip in. She had a nice room, as far as hospital rooms could be called nice and she had it to herself, courtesy of Tony who had been mortified after he had learned what had happened. He had still cracked a joke, but with far less enthusiasm than usual.

“Hey.”, Steve quietly whispered and placed a soft kiss to Sophie’s forehead, then he sat down beside the bed to wait as he had done the last couple of days, waiting for her to wake up, to be able to look into her eyes and convince himself that they had found her, that she was with him again. So he settled in, got comfortable and was just about to get the sketch pad he had brought along when movement in the far corner of the room caught his eye.

Disbelief rushed through him, followed closely by anger and fear, but he held onto the former and jumped to his feet, growling: “Get out.”

“Calm down, I do not mean you harm.”, Loki bitterly whispered, his eyes fixed on Sophie’s sleeping form, “And certainly not her.”

“Yeah, I saw that.”, Steve shot at him, but Loki did not reply, at least not in words, but he closed his eyes and his shoulders slumped forward.

He looked…defeated.

It confused Steve enough to forget his anger for the moment and to simply stare at him, something that elicited a bitter and crooked grin from Sophie’s father.

“I know when I have lost.”, Loki lowly explained, but then bitterness settled into his features again, “At least, I can combine a heap of hints and slowly get the message. I have lost her.”

“You attacked her.”, Steve accused him and added what Sophie had told him, “You forced her to come with you by threatening to kill her mother and me. Of course you have lost her.”

“Careful.”, Loki hissed at him, “Do not lecture me, child. You may be old for Midgard’s standard, but you do not compare to me.”

“No, I don’t.”, Steve replied and then added, “I am better than you.”

Loki glared at him, but then looked at Sophie again, at the cast on her wrist, then back at her face and he whispered: “Maybe you are.”

Steve was ready to fight if need be, even though he did not know how, but he was under the impression that Loki would not pick a fight. Strangely enough.

“I will be gone soon.”, Loki informed him as he averted his gaze form his daughter to look at Steve, “I want you to know, however, that I will leave my daughter in your care. You are a good man.”

Steve was baffled by this, so much he did nothing but frown and Loki continued: “We may not see eye to eye and frankly, I despise you. But she… she loves you. I will never understand it, but I can respect it. For her sake.”

Steve did not believe his ears, but his turmoil went unnoticed by the unbidden visitor who looked down at his sleeping daughter and then told Steve without so much as looking at him: “Take good care of her. She might say that she is fine on her own, but do not believe it. She is not built for loneliness. She is too…delicate for that.”

“You have no idea how strong she is.”, Steve said and Loki smiled down at her, “I know exactly how strong she is. She is brave, she is determined… but she withers in loneliness.”

“She survived a month of imprisonment.”, Steve objected, but Loki scoffed angrily, “Barely. She is brave, but when facing a foe greater than herself, she resorts to bravado. She did that whenever I trained her and demanded too much. And afterwards, she would break down, but pretend nothing was amiss. Do not let her fool you into believing she was fine when in fact she is merely hiding her troubles from you.”

Frowning deeply, Steve was wondering where, for the love of God, this was coming from, when Loki provided the answer: “Do not let her fool you into believing that. I did… and it cost me everything I ever truly wanted.”

So it was his chance now, Steve realised, Sophie’s father was asking him to take care of her because he wanted her to be safe, to be happy… but had finally realised that he would not be the one to keep her safe. Not anymore.

“I will make sure she is really fine.”, Steve reassured him and Loki nodded, but when he turned away as if to leave, Steve stopped him, “Maybe not everything is lost.”

The look Loki gave him had lost all the cold, yet fiery hatred he had seen in them and instead they were pools of ice-cold bitterness and loneliness.

“I have truly forfeited the last chance I had.”, Loki mumbled, “Nothing in the Nine Realms is going to change that.”

“Not with Sophie, no.”, Steve said, “But… you may still have a shot with Sarah.”

Loki’s eyes widened, but then he scoffed and showed a cynical grin, so Steve stopped him: “Hear me out. I don’t think she’ll accept you back into her arms, but maybe you can be on speaking terms. You are still important to her, somehow.”

Loki inclined his head, not committing to any answer when he said: “I appreciate your gesture. I may not like it, but I am beginning to think to see why Sophie has taken a liking to you.”

Steve raised an eyebrow at that, yet remained silent as he watched Loki slowly lean towards Sophie and even though he tensed in anticipation of an attack, Steve let him be and allowed her father to gently kiss her goodbye, placing a soft kiss onto her forehead, very much like Steve had done moments before. It was bizarre, but it somehow felt genuine.

“Farewell.”, Loki spoke and then was gone. Just like that.

“Jesus…”, Steve muttered and shook his head, not willing to belief what had just happened. So instead he looked at Sophie and saw her eyes flutter open.

“Hey, honey.”, she murmured and he sat down next to her on the bed, reaching over her and gently taking her left hand into his as her right was in a cast.

“How are you feeling today?”, he asked and she sighed theatrically, “Battered and bruised, thank you very much.”

“But your bruises do look a lot better.”, Steve replied and she scoffed, so much like her father, “Well, they certainly don’t feel any better.”

“Patience.”, he mumbled and she chuckled, “Yes, please, give me patience. And be quick about it.”

Smiling, Steve leaned down to her and kissed her, her lips soft and oh so susceptible under his.

“Hmm…”, Sophie hummed against him, “I like that…much better than medicine.”

“Unfortunately, love can only do so much for your healing.”, Steve replied with a grin and she snorted, “Still like it better.”

“Look at you lovebirds!”, a voice from behind them called out and Steve sighed in annoyance, but Sophie chirped, “Hi, Tony.”

“Hi, Sweetheart.”, he said and walked around to the other side of the bed, placing another kiss on her forehead. This was getting out of hand, Steve thought, and the thought deepened when he saw a gift bag in Tony’s grasp: “Here, I got you a little something.”

“Cut it out.”, Sophie laughed, “You don’t have to feel so bad for suspecting me of betrayal.”

“Well, suck it up, I do feel bad.”

Sophie smiled and peeked into the gift bag, happily squealing as she did so: “Oh, poptarts! Awesome!”

With a smile, Tony placed them on the nightstand and Sophie giggled: “You’re gonna make me fat, Tony.”

“Shush.”, he shook his head, “You’ll have plenty of exercise when you get that cast off. Cap here is gonna make sure of it. And you also have Natasha for training you in the gym.”

He wiggled his eyebrows at the innuendo he obviously found hilarious, but Steve blushed furiously at it. He did not argue, but no matter how much he wanted to take Sophie back to the tower, back to… his bed, her hand had to heal. She needed time to recover. That did not change the sleepless nights, though.

Shifting uncomfortably on the soft bed, so close to Sophie, Steve met Tony’s eyes and was sure he knew exactly what he had done, but he was spared from more innuendos when the door was opened again.

“You really shouldn’t…”, Bruce said, but was harshly silenced, “Shut up, I don’t care. I’ve been held captive long enough and so has she.”

In came Sarah, wheeling a squeaking pole before her from which an I.V. bag was dangling and she hurried over to Sophie’s bed, practically shoving Tony away, “Scoot over, Stark, don’t make me kick your ass.”

“Would’ve never occurred to me.”, Tony muttered, but Sarah ignored him and instead hugged Sophie tightly.

“Mom, should you even…?”, she began, but Bruce chimed in with a smile, “No, she should most certainly not be running around. But you try telling her that.”

“Don’t.”, Sarah merely said, but smiled at her daughter, “We both want outta here.”

“Agreed.”, Sophie nodded and Steve slowly let go of her hand, nodded at her and wanted to leave the room to give them a little more space. But Sophie grabbed his hand again and when he waited, she placed the box of poptarts in his palm, her intention clear. With a smile, he nodded and left.

When he had just barely closed the door, he almost bumped into Thor.

“She is well?”, he asked without preamble and Steve nodded, “Complicated fracture in her right wrist, some bruises, but nothing too serious.”

Thor sighed in relief and wanted to enter, but Steve stopped him and asked: “There might be another problem, though. You just left Asgard?”

“Yes.”, Thor nodded, “What is your concern?”

“Is Loki in his cell? Definitely, indisputably?”

Thor frowned, worry etching into his face as he gravely said: “He was when I left. Why?”

“He…may or may have not been here a few minutes earlier.”, Steve slowly said and Thor boomed in shock, “What?!”

“Keep it down.”, Steve mumbled and said, “I don’t know if it was really him or this… apparition thing he can do. But he talked to me, he touched Sophie.”

“Did he hurt her?”, Thor growled, but Steve shook his head, “No. He… was just there to say goodbye. He told me he would leave her alone, that he had understood that he had lost her once and for all.”

“Let’s hope he keeps his word.”, Thor angrily muttered under his breath, but Steve asked, “Could you make sure he is really still there?”

“Yes, rest assured I will.”, Thor nodded and left again, but Steve could not help but think that there was more to his visit to Asgard than he had let on.

“Everything okay in Asgard?”, he asked, raising his voice a bit to reach him and Thor turned around, concern in his eyes as he replied, “Loki posed as the Allfather and reigned. My father is still in critical condition and Loki has sent warriors away to do his bidding. It will take months to mitigate the damage he has done.”

With that, he was gone and Steve hoped, for all of Earth and the rest of the Realms, that Loki would still be in his cell. But for now, all he could do was help Sophie as best he could and for the moment, that meant heating her poptarts.


	14. Chapter 14

As quietly as he managed, Steve sneaked out of his own bed. He did so with a smile and while he got dressed for the day, he frequently looked back at Sophie’s sleeping form. He loved seeing her like this, relaxed, at ease, her hair a wild, tangled mess of dark hair on his pillow. The only thing he did not like about the sight was the cast on her right wrist.

It had been a week since she had been discharged and given into the excellent care of Bruce, but she still had difficulty adjusting to a life without really using her right hand, her dominant hand. That was why he had made breakfast for her every day, saying that she had to eat properly in order to heal. With a last loving glance at her, he left the room and silently admitted that he had in fact been pampering her.

But who could blame him? He had thought that he had lost her, for good, but thank God she had only broken her wrist and that was bad enough. So he would continue to pamper her and as soon as he had reached the kitchen, he started on the pancake batter, adding insane amounts of cinnamon as she loved it so much. She really had a sweet tooth.

It was a familiar routine that did not require much thought and soon he had a stack of pancakes ready, along with a pot of freshly brewed coffee.

He reached for the fridge to chop up some apples for the pancakes just when the soft patter of feet and when he turned around, he saw Sophie entering the kitchen, dressed in nothing more than one of his t-shirts, but it was too big for her so she could wear it as a dress.

“Hey, you’re already up?”, Steve asked softly, but she glared at him, “The bed was cold.”

He gave her a bitter grin and she returned it, transformed both their smiles into something warm and affectionate and then said: “Why did you not wake me?”

“I…”, Steve began, but she interrupted him while she went over to him, around the counter, “Don’t you dare say “because you need to rest”, mister. Don’t you dare.”

“Because…”, he tried to improvise…and failed, “You needed sleep?”

Sophie did not dignify that with a response other than pouting, so Steve settled for a diversion: “I made pancakes, though. And coffee.”

“Don’t try to distract me. Even though it’s working.”, Sophie laughed and stretched as she tried to sit down on the counter, as she had done numerous times before when they had talked in the kitchen or she had watched him while he had been cooking. In a movie, the scene would have been comical, for she failed marvellously as she only had one arm to pull her up and the counter was too high for her to reach it that way. But as it was Sophie and her pain was very real, it pained Steve to watch her. When she jumped in order to gain momentum, he interfered.

“Wait.”, he said and stepped close to her, “Allow me.”

With a swift grab of her hips, Steve had lifted her and placed her on the counter where she gasped against the cold material. Then he lingered, standing between her thighs that were only clad up to about half their length with a white t-shirt, and his hands were still on her hips.

Trying to say…something, Steve looked at her, only to find that her face was almost at the same level with his, her lips so close… and there was this smile on her lips, the one he could not resist. So, without wasting time trying to resist, Steve slowly leaned in and placed a soft kiss onto her mouth.

It was incredibly hard to remember that her hand was still hurt, that she had to be treated with immense care, but when Steve managed to pull away from her, Sophie linked her arms behind his neck and held him in place.

“Sophie…”, he began, but she cut him off, “No. Every night you’ve lain next to me and that was all you’ve done.”

With a sigh, Steve admitted: “I thought I’d lost you. When I saw you in that hospital bed, all I wanted to do was hold you and never let go of you again.”

“Then don’t.”, Sophie simply suggested and he sighed again, then leaned his forehead against hers, mumbling, “I can’t. You’re hurt and…”

“I’m hurt, but I’m not made of glass, you know.”, Sophie quipped and in addition to her arms also crossed her ankles behind his back, effectively trapping him. Steve squirmed, unsure what to do and Sophie whispered: “What do you think I wanted to do when I saw you while I was lying in that bed?”

Steve frowned, too taken aback by her question to answer it, so she did that herself: “All I wanted was hold you, be held by you. And…possibly more. A lot more, actually.”

At this he chuckled and she giggled happily before she pulled him closer with her uninjured left hand in his neck: “So c’mere, you.”

Her lips on his were so soft, so tempting he instantly forgot that he had meant to keep it all civilised, careful so as not to hurt her injuries and within an instant his hands were grasping her in a firm grip until they wandered down over her thighs until they touched her warm skin. It wrenched a gasp from both of them and Steve’s hand then travelled back upwards to Sophie’s hips, but they did so beneath the shirt she was wearing. Sophie moaned sweetly into the kiss, but this sound darkened, became huskier when his hands clasped her backside, fingers digging into her warm flesh, lifting her from the cool counter.

“You know what?”, Steve mumbled against her lips, “Let’s skip breakfast.”

“Haven’t you been telling me it’s the most important meal of the day?”, she teased, nipping at his bottom lip and Steve tightened his grasp of her butt cheeks, making her giggle before he replied, “I did and I stand by that. But right now, I wanna skip straight to dessert.”

Sophie hummed appreciatively and Steve lifted her off the counter, holding her tight as he made their way back to the elevator. The thought occurred to him that someone might be up already and walk in on them, but he did not care in the slightest. Sophie was back, back in his arms, that was all that really mattered.

Waiting until the elevator reached their floor was some kind of torture, but he loved every second of hit, even though his jeans were too tight and Sophie was so warm and eager in his embrace. Maybe a bit too eager, but he could barely hold back himself when she kept placing kisses onto his cheek, his neck and his lips. So when the soft tone of the elevator announced their arrival, he all but rushed back to his room…their room now.

He kicked the door shut behind him and with a few long strides he was in his bedroom, slowly and gently lowering Sophie onto the bed, still all rumpled from their sleeping.

He had not even taken his hands off her when she was already clumsily fumbling with the button of his jeans and chuckling and blushing all at once, Steve gently brushed her hand away, but took it in his and kissed her palm. Sophie grinned at him, but when she reached for the shirt she was wearing, he stopped her, as gently as before and asked: “Wait, let me…”

He did not say what he had in mind, he doubted he would even be able to find the words to voice his wish, but she nodded and remained still, allowing him to do whatever he had planned. With shaking hands, Steve unceremoniously discarded his clothing and, with a bit of effort to overcome his shame, he removed his boxers and climbed into bed next to Sophie, naked now. The way she licked her lips and her eyes were glancing downwards time and again made him smile, especially because he knew that she was struggling to remain inactive and was having a hard time with it, but she did so anyway, because he had asked for it.

He knew he would never find words to tell her how grateful he was for having her, so he opted for trying to show her instead. He brushed a lock of her unruly hair out of her face, tucked it behind her ear and then stroked down the length of her arm, avoiding the cast and instead letting his hand wander down her thigh, making her shiver. Already…it was amazing, for he had never thought he would be able to do that to a girl. Yet here they were.

Steve grasped the hem of the shirt and leaned in to kiss her, the brief contact almost innocent despite their nakedness. Sophie sighed quietly and he then lifted the shirt, slowly and carefully tugging it up and first letting her pull her uninjured arm out of it, then he took utmost care when he pulled the material over the cast.

He could not help but let his gaze roam over her body and when he kissed her again, Sophie was trembling, barely keeping herself under control, but when she tried to reach for him, to pull him against her, Steve gently stopped her and when she frowned at him, he smiled reassuringly and then guided her body down onto the bed, turning her so she was laying on her stomach, her injured hand cautiously propped up on a pillow.

Steve brushed her hair over her shoulder and with a smile he noticed that his touch left goosebumps in its wake, so he slowly drew his hand down the length of her spine, eliciting a soft whimper from Sophie as she arched her back into his touch. When he had reached the curve of her backside, his hand went up again, touching her side, drawing a sound from her that was between a moan and the laughter of being tickled.

As his hand reached her neck again, Steve leaned over her, his body hovering so close over hers that he could feel the warmth radiating off her and he placed a kiss onto her shoulder, then the nape of her neck, her cheek, then the way back again, all the time supporting his weight with one arm next to her. The other arm slowly eased in between Sophie’s stomach and the mattress and he held her tight while peppering her back with kisses, trailing down from her shoulders to her hips and back again.

“Steve…”, she breathed and when she glanced at him, he had no choice but to lean down and kiss her, but despite all the lust pent up in him, he kept the kiss soft and sweet.

Blindly, he reached for a condom in his nightstand and as soon as he had retrieved one, he retraced his trail of kisses down Sophie’s back. Upon reaching her hips yet again, he leaned back, fumbled with the condom, hands shaking, and when he had succeeded, he traced his path up again, snaking one arm around her, gently lifting her hips just a bit and when he placed a kiss at her neck once again, he slowly joined their bodies.

Sophie gasped at their contact and her left hand balled into a fist, clutching at the pillow, then she arched her back, pressing her back against his chest. Taking a deep breath, Steve held them both still, trying to get control over himself again, sure that if he moved now, he would not be able to stop.

So instead he waited, placed kisses onto Sophie’s shoulder and when he had at least some kind of control over his galloping heartbeat, he began to move in deliberate, slow thrusts. Nevertheless or just because of that, sensations flooded his mind and he was not capable of any conscious thought, he just consisted of need, the need to hold Sophie, to feel her, to show her what he felt and could not find words for.

Had he been able to think, Steve would probably never have acted the way he did then, for the arm supporting him slid up, joined Sophie’s uninjured hand and entwined their fingers, but his right hand, the one that had snuck under her stomach, sneaked even further down and slid between her thighs, gently exploring. He had no idea what he was doing, but he did not think about it either, could not and it was for the best, for his fingers wandered, gauged Sophie’s reaction. And when the simplest touch earned him a sharp gasp and an arched back, Steve’s fingers stayed where they were, kept stroking the little nub in time with the movement of his hips.

Sophie tensed with a moan so loud it startled Steve into immobility for a moment, totally surprised and amazed at the effect of his actions, at Sophie’s heavy panting, and when her inner muscles tensed around him, he followed her with an equally loud groan of pure pleasure.

He was actually seeing stars when he collapsed, remembering at the last moment that he would crush her under his far heavier body, so he propped himself up and, staring at Sophie’s blissful smile, he belatedly realised what had just happened.

Instantly, shame rushed through him, even though he did not really know why. They had thoroughly enjoyed themselves, each other, so…

“Don’t you dare feel bad about this.”, Sophie mumbled and he guessed that he must have given some sort of start at that, because she opened one eye to glance up at him and chuckled before she added, “This was the most loving, sweetest and also hottest sex I’ve ever had. I used to think those adjectives don’t go with each other, but with you, they do. And that’s amazing. You are amazing. So don’t you dare feel bad about this.”

Steve smiled, then placed a soft kiss onto her cheek and quietly mumbled: “I think I couldn’t even if I put effort into it. But I don’t want to feel bad because…”

He had no words for how close he felt to her, how much he loved her. But judging from Sophie’s smile, she already knew… it was just another reason why he loved her so much.

Slowly, Steve pulled away from her and they both sighed as their bodies separated. Steve spread the blanket over Sophie and saw her smile before he turned away to dispose of… things no longer needed, but then he immediately returned to her and slipped into bed next to her, drawing circles and indefinite shapes onto the skin of back. She murmured happily to herself, it almost sounded like the satisfied purr of a cat and when she turned her face towards him, her eyes half lidded, he thought that her green eyes even looked like a cat’s, with just a hue of mischief and mystery.

“I love you.”

Now her eyes widened and Steve realised that he had actually said those words out loud. Initially, he tensed, taken aback that he had actually said that, but then he gave her a crooked grin and stated with an awkward shrug, yet firmly: “I do.”

“I know.”, Sophie returned his smile, extending her left hand to stroke over his cheek, but Steve pressed a kiss to her palm and she added, “I just never dreamed of hearing it. Or… saying the words myself. The three magical words.”

“You don’t have to.”, Steve said, taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles, “Only when you’re ready or…”

“I love you, Steve.”, she said, cutting him off, “You dork. How could I not. I just… I’d almost lost hope, I almost gave up on true love.”

“So had I.”, Steve replied and Sophie burst out in an amused chuckle, “And then you had to rescue me, go all Super Soldier and mess up our respective retirement plans of growing old alone. Shame on you, Steve Rogers.”

With a grin, Steve used words against her he had heard from her one time when she had snatched his towel from him after a shower, leaving him naked and exposed: “Sorry, not sorry.”

At this she giggled and leaned over to him, kissing him fully on the lips. He had to remind himself that she was still injured, that he could not simply pull her into his embrace and ravish her once again.

Thankfully though, he got a reminder, a loud one too, when Sophie’s stomach growled. Laughing, she collapsed on his chest and Steve could not help but join her in her laughter. But she jabbed her left forefinger into his chest and playfully glared at him in accusation: “This is all your fault. The soppy confessions of love, your fault, my starving here in bed, also your fault, you skipped breakfast.”

“You did not complain.”, Steve shot back with a grin and she shrugged, “Up until now! And by now someone has surely found my pancakes and enjoyed them! I am doomed to starve!”

She theatrically let her head drop back onto his chest, but the tragic facade was thoroughly broken by the fact that she was already shaking with laughter.

“We got something better though.”, Steve lowly said and when Sophie looked up to meet his eyes, she murmured lovingly, “Indeed we did.”

Steve leaned towards her, kissed her and all too soon, she pulled away, grinning as she added: “I really am hungry, though.”

“Ugh, fine.”, Steve groaned in exaggerated exasperation, “How does ham and eggs sound?”

“Superb.”, Sophie nodded with enthusiasm and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as he said, “Then let’s get dressed and I’ll make you breakfast.”

“I know why I love you so much.”, she winked at him and sat up, but Steve followed her and gently caught her to pull her against his chest, pulling her in for another kiss. What was supposed to be just a peck on her lips turned into a long, loving kiss Steve reluctantly ended after he had just brushed his tongue over Sophie’s bottom lip.

“At this rate we’ll never make it back to the kitchen.”, she whispered out of breath and Steve sighed, but then nodded, “You’re right.”

With that, he quickly got up before his affection and lust would keep him in bed.

“I wasn’t complaining.”, Sophie added and Steve scoffed with a grin, “Are you starving now or aren’t you? Make up your mind, woman.”

“I am starving.”, Sophie replied, but then licked her lips lasciviously, “Although there are more kinds of hunger.”

They held each other’s gaze for a moment, then Sophie burst out laughing and the spell was broken, but the fits of laughter shaking them both felt wonderful. Without further comment, Steve got dressed and also gave Sophie a helping hand. When they left the room, he asked: “So, last chance, ham and eggs or pancakes?”

Sophie took his hand, leaned her head against his shoulder and replied: “Don’t really care as long as I get you with the meal. But I’d prefer a whole lot of you with bacon and eggs on the side.”

Steve chuckled, kissed the top of her head and nodded: “Deal.”


	15. Chapter 15

“You two lovebirds are making me sick.”, Tony grumbled and threw a pencil at Sophie, but Steve caught it in the air and threw it at his head, dead on target. In addition Sophie’s verbal bullet was not far behind as she teased: “Jealous much, Stark?”

“See?!”, Tony raged, “You even attack me together. Have you choreographed that stunt or something?”

Sophie snickered at Tony’s exaggeratedly foul mood and Steve added with a grin: “That bit? Pshaw, we don’t need to rehearse that simple a blow. Wait until we’ve really had time to come up with something.”

Tony narrowed his eyes at them in both irritation and anger, then he suddenly shouted: “Jarvis, give me something! Some Hydra base somewhere!”

Sophie rolled her eyes at that, as did Natasha who without a word snatched a pillow from the sofa and threw it at Tony, almost knocking him off the chair.

“What?! Is no one here willing to hunt down some Hydra idiots?”, Tony complained and Bruce reassured him, “We are willing, but we have to find them first.”

“Jarvis, that was your cue.”, Tony said but he was interrupted when Sarah walked in and he groaned, “Wow, you’re exactly what I needed to top off a helluva day.”

“I know you secretly love me.”, Sarah teased and hugged Sophie, but in the same motion pushed Steve down onto his chair again as he was trying to get up to greet her properly. So he gave in, remained seated and Sarah gave him a smile for it: “Wow, kid, so you do learn. Just treat my daughter with even more respect and we’ll be fine.”

“Yes ma’am.”, Steve nodded and she placed a kiss onto his cheek. It was… still strange, even though she had done that ever since she had gotten out of the hospital. He had thought that a few weeks would help him get used to it, but so far no such luck. However, a glance at Sophie proved once again that she was happy to have her mother with them, so he would have endured a fate much worse and gladly.

“Hi, Bruce.”, Sarah greeted him and then dumped her backpack onto the table they were gathered around. It landed there with a heavy thump and Bruce asked a question, even though not the one Steve had been expecting: “How are you today?”

“I’m fine.”, Sarah snorted, “You’ve seen the scar, it’s all healed up, I can even still wear bikinis.”

“Wanna share pictures?”, Tony suggested and Sarah grinned, “Get lost, creep.”

Tony rolled his eyes theatrically and after a pause, Sarah added: “Although, on second thoughts…”

“Yeah?”, he piped up and she replied, “I wanna share pictures, but not the ones you got in that filthy mind o’ yours. Watch this.”

Saying that, she unzipped the bag she had brought along and positively dumped file after file on the table. After the bag had produced an alarming amount of paper, Sarah sat down and joked: “Have fun. Come on, people, those files aren’t gonna sort themselves out. Chop chop.”

“Mom…”, Sophie lowly whispered, “What is all that?”

“Better question.”, Tony chimed in, “What the hell is all that?”

Sarah smirked and explained: “You remember that I was in a hospital bed for more than three weeks? Well, a girl needs to keep herself busy so as to not go ballistic where it’s inappropriate. So I reached out, gathered some intel. That’s what I found.”

“On what exactly?”, Bruce asked, but it was Natasha who answered the question, at least kind of, “On Hydra.”

“Exactly.”, Sarah nodded, and while Steve was still processing how on Earth she could have gathered so much – and in such a short time - about an organisation they had been hunting for months now, Natasha continued: “And about SHIELD, too. How long have you been working this angle?”

“Which angle?”, Bruce asked, as lost as Steve was. He looked around, but from Tony’s shocked expression he gathered that the self-proclaimed genius had also come up empty-handed, but Clint was thinking something over and Natasha… had somehow solved a riddle none of them had truly seen. Now she crossed her arms over her chest and accused Sarah: “You have infiltrated their ranks.”

Steve’s eyes widened at that and Sarah grimaced.

“Mom?”, Sophie asked, “Is that true?”

Sarah huffed, but then smiled at Natasha: “Okay, where’d I go wrong?”

“So…it is?”, Steve found himself stammering and Sarah shrugged, “No use denying it now anyway. Yeah, it’s true. But I don’t know why you had to scare my baby that way, girlfriend.”

Natasha only raised an eyebrow at that, but Sophie reeled back gasping: “Wait. So you’re… an Agent of SHIELD? You…were in Hydra? Why…?”

“Because a friend in need asked me to do it.”, Sarah simply stated and when she glanced at Steve, some unspoken meaning in her gaze, he was convinced she was talking about Director Fury himself. Figured.

“Baby, I do not know what they were doing to you.”, Sarah firmly said and Sophie shook her head, “I never thought you knew, just… that’s incredibly dangerous.”

At this, Sarah smirked and opened her mouth to reply, but Sophie shook her head: “Don’t tell me that “danger” was your middle name, I am totally not in the mood for that old joke. Let’s just…get to work.”

With that, she grabbed the file closest to her, but when she tried to open it, Tony chimed in: “Actually, I think it would be best to let Jarvis scan all that and then sort through it with some kind of method. And intelligent artificial backup.”

Sophie stared at him, but Tony held her gaze and when she looked away in defeat, as it seemed, Tony winked at Steve and nodded at the door, signalling for him to get her out. Maybe so that Tony and Bruce, who looked positively livid just this side of green, could tear Sarah a new one. He knew, rationally, that she was right, that the intel would probably prove invaluable, but at the moment he was angry that she had put herself in such danger, that she had risked for her daughter to lose her mother after everything that had happened with her father Loki.

“Hey, you… want some poptarts?”, Steve asked and Sophie merely glanced at him, seeing right through his decoy, but she silently got up anyway and left the room with him. As soon as they were out of sight, Steve pulled her into his arms and Sophie settled against his chest, but then violently shook her head: “I know that what she did was brave and important…”

“But it was also incredibly dangerous.”, Steve softly interjected, “You have a right to be angry.”

“I’m not angry.”, she shot back, but then immediately chuckled, “Or maybe I am. I dunno. All I know is that I am not alright with her being a SHIELD Agent. I thought she was a private eye.”

“Well, technically…”, Steve began, but Sophie laughed and poked him in the ribs, “A SHIELD agent is not a PI, Steve.”

“No, but they kind of do the same thing, but for different people and for different reasons.”

“Which is exactly the point.”, Sophie said, taking a step away from him, but he did not let her go, “My mother is not the type to do this for the good of mankind. I love her to bits, but she’s not that altruistic. She either did it for profit, for fun…or for a friend.”

He debated with himself whether or not to tell her about Fury. He could not, but he had to.

“Steve?”, she asked and he knew that she had seen his turmoil, she knew he was hiding something. So he decided to come clean as best he could.

“Please don’t ask me to tell you more than I will tell you now, because I can’t. But… if your mother is working for the “friend in need” who I think she was referring to, then this friend knows the risks and the benefits. Your mother would not have been sent in if not necessary.”

Sophie was not happy with that explanation, he could see that, but then she smiled and nodded: “Okay. I may not like it, but I guess you have an obligation to this friend because for one he or she is your friend and second you think it’s right not to spread the word about this friend. I can live with that. Just… please tell me when you think something could be fishy about her assignments.”

“Of course.”, Steve reassured her and she slowly smiled up at him.

“What is it?”, he asked and she giggled, “Can’t I smile at you for no reason?”

“You can, but you usually don’t.”, Steve countered and she nodded again, then explained reluctantly, “There is something I want to try. But… I didn’t want to tell you about it if I wasn’t sure I could pull it off.”

“What are you talking about?”, Steve asked and she took a deep breath, “Remember the magic books Thor got me? Well, one of them had a locator spell in it and I think…I was able to find Thor and Natasha without any problem, all over New York so maybe… maybe I can try and look for… for Bucky.”

He did not dare believe his ears. Had she really just…? No, she could not…

“Steve?”, Sophie asked him and thereby dragged him out of his stupor, “Steve, are you okay? Did you hear me?”

“Yeah…”, he began, but then panted, “Are you… are you sure?”

“Not really.”, she admitted with a bitter smile, “It has worked with Thor and with Natasha, but I know them both. I have only seen pictures of Bucky, heard his voice from recordings. But I think maybe I can find him and I think it’s worth a shot.”

All he could do was stare at her and Sophie slowly, cautiously added: “That is… if you want me to look for him by means of magic.”

“Yeah!”, he then finally managed to grind out, “Yes, I want that, please try. I just… I can’t believe it. I can finally find him…”

“Don’t throw out the babe with the bath water there.”, Sophie chuckled and took a hold of his hands, “I will try my best, but I can’t make any promises.”

“I know.”, Steve nodded, then laughed and leaned his forehead against hers, “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me until we’ve found him safe and sound.”, Sophie asked, her voice trembling uneasily, but Steve replied, “You are willing to try. Thank you for that.”

“Okay, I can live with that.”, she joked and got to the tips of her toes to kiss him, a gesture he welcomed. But they were interrupted when Tony’s loud and annoyed voice reached them: “Oi, Soldier boy, are you snogging your gal out there? Don’t do anything inappropriate under my roof!”

“Shut it, Stark!”, Sophie shouted back, but giggled and pulled Steve after her as she returned to the room. Sarah was arguing with Tony and one look told Steve that Tony was losing the argument, but it also told him that someone had arrived.

“Thor!”, Sophie happily called out and hugged her uncle to greet him, an embrace that was gladly returned as the God lifted her off her feet.

“It is good to see you, little one.”, he said as he put her feet on the ground again and she happily chirped, “And you.”

Steve too went over to greet the friend and when he had, Sophie looked up at her uncle and stated: “I have told him.”

Thor looked at him, his gaze scrutinising, but Natasha stepped up next to Sophie and asked: “The attempt is a go?”

“Yep.”, Sophie nodded and Natasha turned to Steve, asking him, “You really okay with this?”

There was genuine concern in her eyes and it made him smile, knowing that he had friends that cared so much about him.

“What the hell are you guys prattling on about?”, Tony interjected, clearly not happy with being left out of something and Sarah, for once, backed him up, “I’d like to know that as well, for I don’t like my baby conspiring with a demigod and the world’s most dangerous redhead.”

“Try “most dangerous woman”, that’ll be closer to the truth.”, Natasha told her with a smirk, making both mother and daughter laugh, but then Sophie turned around and, her hand still holding Steve’s, she explained: “Steve has been looking for an old friend and I think my magic can help us find him.”

“Awesome.”, Sarah was surprised, “Uhm, baby, I happen to have misplaced my credit card, so…”

“No, Mom, you just want me to steal one. Do your dirty work yourself.”, Sophie smiled and her mother laughed as she proudly inclined her head.

“Hang on.”, Tony muttered, “Capsicle here wants you to magically produce his wartime buddy? Pull him outta your hat or something?”

“It was my idea.”, Thor stated, getting all their attention, especially Steve’s, “It was?”

“Yes, my friend.”, Thor confirmed, “I know that my brother was able to retrieve objects long since lost because he simply knew where to look for them. Once he helped find a servant’s young daughter, so I know the charm also works on persons. We found the spell together and I helped Sophie practice it.”

Steve turned to Natasha, but even before he could voice his question, she answered it: “I just stumbled upon them one day when Sophie was late for training because she was training that spell. I joined in.”

“How does it work?”, Bruce asked and Sophie snorted with laughter, “Beats me. But so far it has worked.”

“Well then, fire it up, girl, let’s see some action!”, Tony laughed and Sophie awkwardly cleared her throat, “It’s not necessarily easier with an audience…”

“C’mon, baby, you can do it!”, Sarah said and nodded, encouraging her as it seemed to Steve, for she squared her shoulders and then asked, “Jarvis, could you please pull up a picture of Bucky? Sergeant Barnes?”

“Certainly.”, the AI spoke and a picture flickered to life above the table, two pictures, actually. One showed Bucky as he had been back in the 40s and it warmed Steve’s heart, for he remembered the day that picture had been taken. It was blurry, but it was a link to a happy memory. The other picture, though…made his heart bleed. It had been taken by a surveillance camera back when Bucky had still been under Hydra’s influence. He did not recall the exact situation, maybe he had not even been present when the photo had been taken, but boy did it hurt to see it.

To Steve’s surprise, a heavy hand was placed on his shoulder and one look into Thor’s grimly smiling face told him that the friend understood his pain. Sophie, however, saw nothing from that short exchange because she had her eyes closed and was mumbling something to herself. He did not understand the words, but he kept looking at her.

“Gosh darn it!”, Sophie suddenly hissed and they were all startled by that unexpected outburst, “How am I supposed to concentrate when y’all are staring at me?”

Tony laughed at that, only to earn himself a glare from her, then he suggested: “Ignore us. You know you’ve ignored me before, so just do it again.”

She laughed at that, but then nodded, squaring her shoulders again: “Sorry. Just… nervous.”

“You don’t have to…”, Steve began, but Sophie stopped him with nothing more than a stern look at him.

“It’s nice of you to say that, but let’s face it, you want to find him and maybe I can help. For that, though, I have to get my act together so…here goes nothing.”

With another deep breath, Sophie sat down, on the floor, her knees pulled up to her shoulders and she rested her forehead on them, practically rolling herself into a ball and still mumbling. Without thought, Steve knelt down behind her to pull her against his chest… and sure enough, the by now familiar drain on his strength started once again, siphoning energy from him to her in a manner neither of them understood.

Sophie stopped mumbling, but her breathing told him she was straining and then she tensed, her head shot up and she shook it in confusion.

“That can’t be right…”, she muttered and Steve asked her, “What do you mean? Have you found him?”

“I’m… I’m not sure. I mean it feels as if I’d found him, but…according to the spell he’s… in the lobby.”

That was all he needed to hear.

Steve jumped to his feet and dashed out of the room, not heeding the cries behind him that were calling his name. All he was thinking about was Bucky. He was so close!

Ignoring the elevators, Steve sprinted down the stairs, knowing that he would be faster that way. He was panting both from the effort and the excitement, the hope he was still trying to suppress.

He came to a skidding halt in the lobby and frantically looked around, spotting the guards…and a man in blue jeans, a black leather jacket and a baseball cap pulled deep into his face, but not hiding the long brown hair.

“Bucky…”, he mumbled in disbelief and began to walk towards his old friend. But apparently he felt that, for Bucky flinched as if spooked and turned towards the door.

“Wait!”, Steve called out, “Bucky, wait!”

At this, he froze and slowly turned around to Steve. His eyes were… hollow but for the sadness in them, he was lost.

“Wait, please.”, Steve asked of him, but Bucky turned away, towards the door until another voice, Sophie’s, made him hesitate, “We can keep you safe from Hydra.”

He stopped dead in his tracks when Sophie stepped up next to Steve, panting and clutching her sides as she glared at him: “Nice one, Rogers, leaving me behind.”

She was grinning as she accused him, so he slowly returned it. However, he left the talking to her as she turned her head towards Bucky again: “Think about it. Running away from their goons all on your own is dangerous and very likely doomed.”

“So are your efforts.”, Bucky coldly spoke, and only glanced at Sophie over his shoulder, “No one can keep them at bay.”

“The Avengers can.”, Sophie said confidently, “They’ve kept me safe.”

That got his attention, alright.

In his mind, Steve kicked himself for leaving Sophie behind, because he knew he would never have thought of trying to convince Bucky via that route. But apparently it was a mighty fine start, for Bucky fully turned around to them, his gaze boring into Sophie’s and she nodded with a smile: “I may not look the part, but I am Loki’s daughter. Hydra had me kidnapped, experimented on. Until the Avengers got me out and they have kept me safe ever since. We can do the same for you if you’d only allow us to help.”

For a moment, Bucky closed his eyes and Steve wanted to talk to him, but Sophie gestured for him to remain silent. And it was probably for the best, because he wanted his best friend safe at all cost, but he was not sure whether Bucky remembered him at all. He had to, for what other reason should he have spared Steve’s life, pulled him out of the river? But Steve just did not know for sure.

“I can’t.”, Bucky lowly said, his voice gravelly, saddened, but Sophie gently said, “Sure you can.”

“And risk all of your lives?”, Bucky asked, but then gave the answer himself, “No.”

“Their lives are at risk anyway.”, Sophie said, “And not just because of me, but because of what they need to do, what the world needs them to do to keep everyone safe. So staying away will not save them, on the contrary. If you and I both stay, maybe we can even help them one day. At least we can remind them that they have succeeded to save at least somebody. Us.”

Bucky’s gaze rested on her and despite Hydra’s efforts, he saw the old Bucky in the way he was staring at her, in the way he was obviously thinking about her words and realising that he had never looked at it that way, but now realised it was a possibility. Steve saw that in the small frown on his face, in the way he slowly arched an eyebrow. Those were all too familiar expressions. That man was still Bucky. He had just forgotten himself along the way.

“I…”, he began, but stopped, then hung his head low, “I am dangerous.”

“Join the club.”, Sophie jested and when he looked at her out of narrowed eyes, she had a swirling ball of magic and ice floating over her palm. That caught him off guard and she smiled as she commanded it to disappear again before she said: “We’re all a little mad here, and dangerous, some more so, some less. It’s a mad world.”

“Buck…”, Steve quietly spoke and when his old friend looked at him, he cautiously added, “Fighting alone is tiresome, depressing…and seldom fruitful. Please, give this a chance.”

Bucky nervously licked his lips and Steve could almost hear him turning thought after thought over in his mind. Until Bucky’s shoulders slumped down and he hung his head, saying: “I don’t want to be alone anymore, Steve.”

“Then don’t be.”, he replied and stepped closer, but he only talked when Bucky raised his gaze to him again, “You remember me?”

“Not much.”, Bucky confessed, “But enough to know I want you out of harm’s way. And…that I can trust you.”

“Then trust me.”, Steve pleaded and slowly, reluctantly, Bucky nodded.

Steve sighed in relief, such a burden taken from his heart, but Bucky hotly said: “I endanger you all once, I’m gone.”

“No way, buddy.”, Steve said, “I’m with you until…”

“…the end of the line.”, Bucky finished the sentence together with him. Steve smiled brightly and at least there was a slight tug at the corners of Bucky’s mouth, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

“Come on, let’s find you a room and something to eat.”, Sophie suggested leading them away. Steve did not care in the slightest what Tony would say to this, what fits he would throw, he just knew he had to help Bucky.

And for the first time since he had been rescued from the ice, he believed that he had a shot at being truly happy with Bucky as his friend and Sophie at his side. Together, they could take on everything.


End file.
